Health Policy Report (2/13)

The House and Senate remain adjourned for a five-week summer recess. When Congress returns in September, lawmakers plan to take up a series of issues, including a continuing resolution to fund the government past September 30, a border security bill, reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, extending the Internet Tax Freedom Act and consideration of a […]

Last week saw a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill as lawmakers looked to complete work on a series of legislative priorities before adjourning for the August recess. On Friday night, the House voted 223-189 to pass a $694 million bill (H.R.5230) to deal with the influx of migrants at the southern border, overcoming concerns […]

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) could take significant steps to improve the contract planning and oversight practices that led to the failed launch of Healthcare.gov last October, an official from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified today at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee.  CMS was aware up […]

Both chambers of Congress were in session last week, as lawmakers looked to complete work on several legislative priorities before the upcoming August recess. Last Friday, the House voted 237-173 to pass legislation (H.R. 4935) to overhaul the child tax credit by requiring applicants to provide their Social Security numbers. Separately, the House voted 370-40 […]

Healthcare remained a dominant topic on Capitol Hill last week, punctuated by a bitter debate in the Senate over the Supreme Court’s recentHobby Lobby ruling. On Wednesday, lawmakers failed to advance a bill (S. 2578) that would require companies to provide contraceptive coverage in their employee healthcare plans. The Senate voted 56-43 against invoking cloture on […]

Medicare still has significant room for improvement in incentivizing care coordination for individuals with multiple chronic conditions, lawmakers concluded at a Senate Finance Committee hearing today. In a hearing focused on the challenges of treating patients with chronic conditions, Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced that the Finance Committee will begin a months-long effort “to find […]

Last week, the House passed a fiscal 2015 Energy and Water spending bill (H.R. 4923), marking the midway point in the chamber’s appropriations process for fiscal 2015. The House has passed five other fiscal 2015 appropriations bills while the Senate has yet to approve any spending bills due to a partisan stalemate over amendments. In […]

This post, penned by Thorn Run Partner's Billy Wynne, originally appeared in the July 11 edition of Health Affairs.  John Mathewson, executive vice president of Health Care Services for Children with Special Needs (HSC) – a Medicaid managed care plan in D.C. for children on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – recently spoke at the Association for Community Affiliated […]

The House and Senate were in recess last week for the Fourth of July recess. Despite the break on Capitol Hill, healthcare remained a hot topic in Washington, with two Supreme Court rulings that could have lasting impacts on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a 5-4 decision last Monday, the Court […]

The House and Senate both completed legislative business for the week last Thursday, with lawmakers returning to their districts for the Fourth of July recess. Before adjourning, the House voted 229-185 to approve legislation (H.R. 4899) to require the Department of Interior to conduct additional onshore and offshore oil and gas lease sales. Earlier in […]

Today, at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, members discussed the Administration’s efforts to curb fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare. The Subcommittee heard testimony from witnesses at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), […]

Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee hosted its second 21st Century Cures roundtable to discuss “bridging the gap” between digital medicine’s advances and regulatory policies. This roundtable follows the Committee’s recently released white paper entitled Leveraging Technology to Advance the Discovery, Development, and Delivery of Better Treatments and Cures. The stated goal of the 21st Century Cures Initiative is to “to […]