House Committees Resume Reconciliation Markups

Congress will reconvene this week to continue work on several key funding priorities. As the Sept. 30 government funding deadline approaches, House Democrats are expected to queue up a continuing resolution (CR) for consideration as negotiators jostle to avoid another lapse in funding. The upper chamber is expected to take up the CR shortly thereafter, yet it remains to be seen whether the two sides can avoid disagreements over […]

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 […]

Congress has wrapped up legislative business for the week and will reconvene next week to continue work on pressing government funding deadlines. As the Sept. 30 deadline approaches, House Democrats are expected to queue up a continuing resolution (CR) for consideration as negotiators jostle to avoid another lapse in funding. The upper chamber is expected […]

The Senate’s push to fund the federal government through fiscal year (FY) 2020 got off to a rocky start yesterday, as the Senate Appropriations Committee postponed its scheduled markup of the Labor-HHS-Education bill amid partisan disagreements over policy riders. Democrats were prepared to offer an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education bill that would bar the Trump […]

Voters in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District will head to the polls today for a highly-anticipated special election after the 2018 race was marred by credible allegations of election fraud. Democrat Dan McCready — who was also the 2018 nominee — will face off against NC State Rep Dan Bishop in a tossup race that […]

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 lawmakers have 13 just legislative days to avert another government funding lapse. While the Senate Appropriations Committee plans to […]

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 […]

CMS Adds Star Ratings to All Exchanges The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance last Thursday indicating that it would bring its Star Ratings — long the province of Medicare Advantage and programs like Nursing Home Compare — to all CMS-administered health care exchanges. Starting with the open enrollment for plan year […]

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 […]

The Week in Review Senators reconvened last week to address key legislative priorities ahead of the August recess.  In addition to a host of presidential nominations, the Senate addressed budgetary spending caps and the federal debt ceiling by clearing the House-passed budget agreement. The deal — which approves $321 billion in new spending and suspends […]