Health Policy Report (2/13)

The Week in Review   A relatively quiet week in Washington featured the confirmation of a new commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Senate and the passage of a slew of homeland security and federal land use bills in the House.

The Week in Review   The House and Senate were both in recess for the Presidents’ Day Holiday last week. The Senate aims to reconvene today, with the House set to follow suit tomorrow.   Over the weekend, voters in South Carolina and Nevada went to the polls for the Republican primary and Democratic caucus, […]

The Week in Review   ­­­­The White House set the tone in Washington last week by releasing its proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2017 on Tuesday. While the $4 trillion proposal adheres to the topline spending deal struck by President Obama and Republican leadership last year, current Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other Republicans […]

The Week in Review   Both chambers took on full schedules last week as lawmakers considered measures ranging from a comprehensive energy bill in the Senate to an override of the President’s veto on budget reconciliation legislation in the House. In the upper chamber, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) attempted to shepherd energy legislation (S.2012) through […]

The Week in Review A severe snowstorm struck Washington last weekend, disrupting the schedules of both chambers. The House elected to delay all legislative business due to the weather, in part because Democrats were already scheduled to head to Baltimore for an issues conference on Wednesday and Thursday. The snow only held off the Senate […]

The Week in Review With the House in recess and the work-week shortened by both Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and a severe snowstorm that sent lawmakers home on Thursday, legislative business was light last week. However, on Tuesday, Senate Democrats successfully blocked a House-passed measure (H.R. 4038) that would restrict refugees from Iraq and […]

The Week in Review With the President delivering his final State of the Union address and Republicans holding a joint retreat to plan their legislative priorities for the year, last week in Washington featured competing political visions for 2016. In his address on Tuesday, the President avoided the policy ‘laundry list’ that typically accompanies the […]

The Week in Review With the Senate remaining in recess, the House reconvened from the winter break and set to work on a legislative agenda that highlighted a deep partisan divide on healthcare and regulatory issues. Most notably, the House approved Senate-passed budget reconciliation legislation (H.R. 3762) that would repeal key provisions of the Affordable […]

The Week in Review  The first session of the 114th Congress ended on a high note as Democratic and Republican lawmakers were able to work through their differences and pass a mammoth $1.6 trillion spending and tax deal that will fund the government for the remainder of the 2016 fiscal year. On Friday morning, House […]

This post, penned by Thorn Run's Billy Wynne, originally appeared in Health Affairs Blog. Despite the passage of a 2010 law addressing such medicines, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval this year of the first biosimilar has prompted a flurry of regulatory activity aimed at filling gaps left by the statute. For a helpful […]

This post, penned by Thorn Run's Billy Wynne, originally appeared in Health Affairs Blog. Despite the passage of a 2010 law addressing such medicines, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval this year of the first biosimilar has prompted a flurry of regulatory activity aimed at filling gaps left by the statute. For a helpful […]

The Week in Review The government was set to shut down last Friday, but the passage of a very short-term continuing resolution bought Congress five more days to resolve differences over issues ranging from taxes to Syrian refugees that stand in the way of funding the government through next September. The measure (H.R. 2250), which will […]