Summary
Senate Republicans are aiming to pass the budget reconciliation bill by the end of the week, with floor action set to begin on Wednesday. It is expected that the Senate Finance Committee members will meet with the Senate Parliamentarian to review its portion of the bill (Impact Summary). Senate Democrats are looking to challenge approximately 60 provisions of the Committee’s text, including the use of the current policy baseline. Over the weekend, the parliamentarian eliminated provisions that required states to take on a larger share of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) costs and barred undocumented immigrants from receiving SNAP benefits, but retained the ban on state artificial intelligence (AI) regulation.
CDC ACIP Meetings
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet for its regularly scheduled meeting (draft agenda). This will be the first meeting of the eight new members, including vaccine skeptics, appointed by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ACIP plans to hold four votes: (1) RSV Vaccines – Maternal/Pediatrics; (2) RSV Vaccines – VFC [Vaccines for Children program]; (3) Influenza Vaccines; and (4) Thimerosol containing influenza vaccine recommendations. Secretary Kennedy has called for the removal of thimerosol from vaccines, arguing in his 2014 book that it causes brain damage. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that thimerosol, a vaccine additive to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi, is safe.
In response to Secretary Kennedy’s removal of all 17 ACIP members earlier this month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee both called on their Republican counterparts to conduct bipartisan investigations into the Secretary’s decision. The American Medical Association also passed an emergency resolution urging the Senate HELP Committee to investigate Kennedy’s actions on ACIP.
Regulatory Update
CMS released final rule to with a series of proposals intended to address improper enrollments in Marketplace coverage and reduce improper federal spending on advanced premium tax credits. Imapct Health is working on the summary and will send it out shortly.
The Office of Management and Budget is also reviewing the following:
- Proposed CY 2026 payment updates for physicians, hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers, home health agencies, end-stage renal disease facilities. These proposed rules are typically published in June or July. Proposed FY 2026 payment updates for hospital inpatient and long-term care hospitals.
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- A final rule titled, “Medicaid Eligibility Changes Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010; Giving States Freedom to Use Immigration Information to Determine State Residency for Medicaid Eligibility.” The final rule is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to increase federal oversight on states using Federal Medicaid funding for the health care of undocumented immigrants.
- A proposed rule titled, “Medicaid Managed Care-State Directed Payments.” The proposed rule appears intended to advance a presidential memorandum released on June 6, which directs HHS to “eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid, including by ensuring Medicaid payments rates are not higher than Medicare, to the extent permitted by applicable law.”