Summary
The House and Senate are both in session this week with debt limit discussions continuing to be a top priority. The President and the top four Congressional leaders were scheduled to meet last Friday for the second time, but the meeting was postponed until this Tuesday to allow more progress to be made on a staff level. There are only 2 ½ weeks remaining for a deal to be made before June 1, the “X date” when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has declared the nation will not be able to pay its bills. Adding to the pressure, the President is scheduled to travel to Japan later this week, and the Senate is scheduled to be on recess next week for the Memorial Day holiday. Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee was scheduled to start marking up the Fiscal Year 2024 bills this week, including one of the largest spending bills, the Department of Defense. The Defense bill has been pulled, but the Committee may move forward with some smaller bills including Military Construction-VA, Legislative Branch, Agriculture, and potentially Homeland Security.
Hearings and Markups:
The House Ways and Means Committee will have a hearing on Tuesday titled “Health Care Price Transparency: A Patient’s Right to Know.” The hearing will examine “how a lack of transparency in America’s health care system increases costs and prevents patients from being effective health care shoppers.”
The House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing next Wednesday to identify how anticompetitive practices and consolidation negatively affect patient cost and access to health care.
The Senate HELP Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security is having a mental health focused hearing on Wednesday titled “A Crisis in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Care: Closing Gaps in Access by Bringing Care and Prevention to Communities.”
The Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Health will hold hearing on Wednesday focused on rural health care. Witnesses include: Erin Aune, MBA, CRHCP, Vice President Of Strategic Programs, Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital, Glasgow, MT; Sara Rich, President And CEO, Choptank Community Health System, Denton , MD; and, Mark Holmes, Director, Cecil G. Sheps Center For Health Services Research, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Regulatory Update
The Office of Management and Budget is reviewing a number of rules.
- Calendar year 2024 Medicare payment policies – specifically, proposed updates to the Physician Fee Schedule and payment and policy updates for hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers, home health agencies, and end-stage renal disease facilities;
- TCET Pathway – Proposed rule that would establish criteria for an alternative coverage pathways to provide transitional coverage for emerging technologies (TCET) under Medicare;
- Short-Term Plans – Proposed rule that would ensure short-term limited duration insurance includes protections for people with pre-existing conditions and other ACA protections; and
- COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement – Final rule on COVID-19 vaccination requirements for staff at Medicare- and Medicaid- participating providers and suppliers.