Health Policy Report (2/13)

The Week in Review While House lawmakers left Washington for their Veterans Day district work period, Senators resumed consideration of pending presidential nominations. In a floor speech early last week, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) indicated that confirming nominees will be the focus of the Senate’s work so long as appropriations talks are deadlocked. Nominations that cleared the upper […]

The Week in Review The Senate jump-started its sluggish appropriations process last week, clearing (84-9) its first four-bill minibus containing fiscal year (2020) spending bills for Agriculture, Interior-Environment, Commerce-Science-Justice, and Transportation-HUD. While the $214 billion measure passed with broad bipartisan support, action on a second spending package quickly came to a halt. As expected, Senators did […]

Senators will look to clinch their first spending package of fiscal year (FY) 2020, voting on final passage of a four-bill minibus containing FY 2020 spending bills for Agriculture, Interior-Environment, Commerce-Science-Justice, and Transportation-HUD. Following passage of the first minibus, the upper chamber will take a procedural vote on a second spending package. The second minibus —which […]

The Week in Review Senators began full consideration of a four-bill spending package last week as the upper chamber looks to jumpstart its fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations process. The first Senate “minibus” includes spending measures for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD, all of which were approved by the Appropriations Committee on a bipartisan basis. […]

The Week in Review Congress reconvened last week following the two-week Columbus Day district work period. Despite resetting the government funding deadline to provide more time for negotiations, House and Senate appropriators indicated that fiscal year (FY) 2020 spending talks remain deadlocked. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) stated last week that lawmakers may need […]

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 […]

The Week in Review Lawmakers completed a busy week of legislative business that saw significant action on fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations priorities. In the House, lawmakers passed a continuing resolution (CR) (text; summary) that would punt the deadline to fund the federal government for fiscal year (FY 2020) until Nov. 21. The bill includes a […]

The Week in Review Lawmakers returned from the August recess last week, diving into a high-profile legislative blitz to clear pressing government funding deadlines. The push to fund the federal government through fiscal year (FY) 2020 got off to a rocky start, however, as the Senate Appropriations Committee postponed its scheduled markup of the Labor-HHS-Education […]

The Week Ahead Congress is set to return to action today as lawmakers gear up for a high-profile legislative blitz to close out 2019. Government funding will be a top priority for legislators when both chambers gavel in as the Sept. 30 funding deadline looms. While the Senate Appropriations Committee plans to begin marking up […]

Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay for Role in Opioid Epidemic Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman released a decision last Monday declaring Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals played a punishable role in the opioid crisis. He ordered Johnson & Johnson pay more than $572 million based on public nuisance claims to […]

Trump Administration Proposes Changes to Part 2 Privacy Rules Last Thursday, the Trump administration released a much-anticipated rule which proposes updates to the consent requirements governing the release of patient information for individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorder. The rule, developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is designed to […]

White House: Trump Will Announce IPI Model in September President Trump is expected give a major health policy speech in September, including a roll-out of an international reference price system for prescription drugs. As reported last week in Bloomberg News, the President’s senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said that an international pricing index (IPI) for purchasing […]