Health Policy Report (2/13)

Capitol Hill Update Congress will convene today with less than 10 days remaining until the government funding deadline. Congressional leadership is hopeful that lawmakers will be able to take up and pass a continuing resolution (CR) this week that would avert a shutdown on Sept. 30th, but the talks have hit a snag over various […]

Capitol Hill Update Senators failed to advance (52-47) the GOP’s targeted pandemic relief bill last week Senate Democrats, plus Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), voted against the motion to proceed for the underlying bill. The package — which included Republican priorities on child care, liability protections, health care, education, and small business — did not meet […]

Capitol Hill Update House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows did not move closer to a deal on the next round of pandemic relief aid, as the two sides remain far apart on the size and scope of the next package. The two lead negotiators held a roughly 25-minute […]

Capitol Hill Update Over this past weekend, House lawmakers convened for a rare Saturday session, passing (257-150) legislation that seeks to shore up the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). House Oversight and Government Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney’s (D-NY) bill would: (1) provide the USPS with $25 billion to cover revenue losses; (2) reverse service and operational changes […]

Capitol Hill Update House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is poised to call Members back to Washington for votes amid growing concerns about the state of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Lawmakers will likely come back later in the week to vote on House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney’s Delivering for America Act, which […]

Capitol Hill Update With negotiations on the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation at a standstill, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders on pandemic-related priorities over the weekend. The orders seek to the restore the enhanced federal unemployment benefits at a rate lower than the CARES Act allocation, defer payroll taxes until […]

Capitol Hill Update Negotiations on the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation yielded no progress over the weekend as officials struggle to coalesce behind a bipartisan agreement. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) each acknowledged that their sides have a long way to go toward reaching a deal on […]

Capitol Hill Update House and Senate lawmakers will return to action this week to begin a two-week legislative blitz to close out the month of July before leaving for the August district work period. Negotiations on the next COVID-19 relief package are expected to begin in earnest once Members return, as it is widely expected […]

Capitol Hill Update No votes are currently scheduled in Congress this week, but Members on the House Appropriations Committee are set to resume their full committee markups of fiscal year (FY) 2021 spending bills. Appropriators will take up the spending bills for: (1) Energy-Water Development (report) and Labor-HHS-Education (report) today (2) Defense, Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS), and Transportation-HUD tomorrow; and (3) Homeland Security and Financial Services and […]

Capitol Hill Update The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) application process has officially been reopened, thanks to swift action by Congress last week. House and Senate lawmakers were able to clinch unanimous consent agreements on a bill that that would reopen the application process for the roughly $134 billion remaining in the signature small business rescue […]

Capitol Hill Update This week, House and Senate lawmakers are set to consider the Democratic and Republican visions for comprehensive police reform. After clearing The Justice in Policing Act out of the House Judiciary Committee last week, the lower chamber is eyeing a vote on the Democrats’ bill when lawmakers convene for votes on Thursday […]

TRP Senior Vice Presidents Thayer Surette and Shea McCarthy explain how flawed value assessments for prescription drugs and other medicines can have a profound impact on patient access and innovation, especially during the COVID-19 public health emergency.