Health Policy Report (10/15)

The Week Ahead

Congress returns to action today as lawmakers gear up for a three-week legislative work session. Over the course of these next three weeks, House and Senate appropriators are expected to continue negotiations on subcommittee allocations for each of the 12 fiscal year (FY) 2020 spending measures. If they reach an agreement, they could begin “pre conferencing” the 12 fiscal year (FY) 2020 spending bills ahead of the Senate’s votes on the floor. However, disagreements over the Trump administration’s border security and family planning policies — as well as the recent developments on impeachment — could complicate matters for FY 2020 government funding bills.

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Health Policy Report (10/7)

President Trump Announces Executive Order to Modernize Medicare

Last Thursday, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to advance a series of changes to protect and strengthen the Medicare program. These changes focus on providing more health plan options for Medicare beneficiaries, an opportunity for enhanced benefits, and an opportunity for beneficiaries to share more directly in Medicare program savings. During his announcement at a Florida retirement community, President Trump spoke at length about his administration’s health care efforts and goals for making “Medicare even better.” HHS Secretary Alex Azar noted that the executive order “reflects importance on protecting what works in our system and fixing what is broken,” and will enable providers to practice “at the top of their licensure.”

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