Lawmakers returned to Washington today to formally kick off the 118th Congress as the race for Speaker of the House remains in an unprecedented standstill. While Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) earned more than 200 votes from his Republican colleagues in the first two rounds of voting, he remains shy of the 218 votes necessary to win the speaker’s gavel. As it currently stands, 19 House Republicans have opposed Leader McCarthy\u2019s nomination, instead casting their votes for Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The speaker’s election\nis the first order of business for the new Congress. However, since Leader\nMcCarthy can only afford to lose four GOP votes, multiple rounds of voting will\nbe needed until a candidate meets the 218-vote threshold. A prolonged speaker’s\nrace also has significant implications for committee work in the 118th\nCongress, as panels will be unable to name new members or subcommittee chairs\nuntil after the speaker’s election is settled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congress\u2019 2023 Omnibus\nSpending Bill Crosses Finish Line<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just before Congress departed\nfor its final recess of the 117th<\/sup> Congress, lawmakers passed a $1.7 trillion\nspending package. President Biden signed the bill<\/a> on December 29, and\nthe newly codified provisions will apply to the rest of fiscal year (FY) 2023.\nThe Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 includes a wide array of health care\npolicy priorities, outlined within the Labor, Health and Human Services,\nEducation, and Related Agencies (explanatory statement<\/a>)\nand Agriculture, Rural Development, Food, and Drug Administration, and Related\nAgencies (explanatory statement<\/a>)\nsections of the 12-bill package. Specifically, health-related policies within\nthe omnibus spending package pertain to behavioral health, medical devices,\naccelerated approval, cosmetics, the health care workforce, and telehealth,\namong others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The bill addressed\nMedicare provider payments \u2014 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act provisions are\nwaived and a smaller-than-mandated cut under the physician fee schedule (PFS) \u2013\nafter Congress included a 2.5 percent payment bump for 2023. The spending package\nadditionally stands up several pilot programs, including for rare disease drug\ndevelopment, and seeks to bolster clinical trial diversity and operability.\nUnder the Medicaid program, policies surrounding redeterminations, continuous\neligibility for children, and postpartum coverage are also included in today\u2019s\npackage. Additionally, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting\n(MIECHV) Program was reauthorized through 2027. Notably, the deal did not\ninclude provisions from the Verifying Accurate Leading-edge IVCT Development (VALID<\/a>) Act and the\nPioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Surging Resistance (PASTEUR<\/a>) Act, as was\ncontemplated during initial negotiations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Drug Pricing in the\n118<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong> Congress<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n With a divided\ngovernment entering Congress in a post-Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)\nenvironment, Democrats and Republicans will look to identify common ground as\nboth sides of the aisle pursue additional cost saving reforms. Republicans are\nexpected to leverage their majority in the House to hold a myriad of oversight\nhearings related to the IRA \u2014 generally with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid\nServices (CMS) officials \u2014 especially in the realm of generic and biosimilar\nproducts. In addition to these oversight priorities, Republicans will continue\nto home in on their message that the IRA stifles competition and limits the\nnumber of drugs able to come to market. Specifically, House Energy and Commerce\nChair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) plans to focus on ways in which the IRA\nnegatively impacts generic drugmakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite criticisms\nfrom Republicans, the IRA is not going anywhere, although lawmakers may attempt\nto make some policy tweaks that can garner bipartisan support as CMS begins to\nimplement the law. Already, there is chatter surrounding the IRA\u2019s insulin\npricing provisions. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have\npreviously introduced the Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of\nLifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN)Act<\/a> that would reduce\nthe cost of insulin to $35 per month for those with private <\/em>insurance\nplans, compared to the IRA\u2019s more narrow focus on lowering insulin costs for\nMedicare plans. In addition to the Shaheen-Collins bill, there are some\nbipartisan drug pricing priorities that were left out of the IRA. Most notably,\npharmacy benefit managers (PBM) have drawn the attention of lawmakers on both\nsides of the aisle and are high up on Chair Rodgers\u2019 radar. The Pharmacy\nBenefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022 (S. 4293<\/a>) \u2014 which would\ncreate oversight of PBM business practices \u2014 is another bipartisan bill that is\nexpected to resurface in the 118th<\/sup> Congress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n HHS\u2019 2023 Regulatory\nPriorities Impacted by End-of-Year Spending Deal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While the finalization\nof the fiscal year (FY) 2023 omnibus included robust policy changes for the\nhealth care realm, several measures were left behind, including provisions that\nwould have allowed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to bolster\nits regulatory authority surrounding several of its pending priorities.\nNotably, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf signaled\nthat the agency intends to take up reforms related to tests developed in\nacademic hospitals or labs after a provision granting the FDA increased\nauthority to do so was excluded from the end-of-year spending package. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also of note, while\nrelatively untouched in the omnibus, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid\nServices (CMS) will have its hands full as it begins to issue rulemaking\nsurrounding the newly enacted drug pricing program instituted under the\nInflation Reduction Act (IRA) last year. While a top priority for the agency,\nit will also need to consider the impending Medicaid coverage redeterminations\nnow set to start in April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Medicare Advantage\nFaces Hurdles as Program Grows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As Medicare Advantage\n(MA) program enrollment continues to grow in popularity, employers are looking\nto shift their companies\u2019 retiree benefit packages \u2014 which are generally\nprivate health plans or traditional Medicare \u2014 to MA plans. While group MA\nplans can help employers save money, there have been recent lawsuits that may\ndeter businesses from switching their employee retiree benefits to group MA\nplans. This disquiet can generally be attributed to oversight and transparency\nconcerns from federal agencies, which then trickle down to consumers. The\nCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last collected benefit,\npremium, and cost-sharing data from MA plans in 2017, and some enrollees have\nvoiced frustration about accessing information about their plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The issue of oversight\nand consumer trust as a hurdle to MA plan adoption can be best seen in New York\nCity. Recently, the city attempted to shift from Medicare supplemental plans to\na singular MA plan as a means to save the city money and make care for retirees\nmore efficient. However, opt-out fees and coverage ambiguity ultimately led the\nplan to disintegrate over backlash from the affected beneficiaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In an effort to\nimprove transparency provisions and assuage consumers\u2019 skepticism towards MA\nplans, CMS plans to finalize a rule in February that will dictate MA audit\npolicy. Despite these challenges, MA plans are still expected to service a\ngrowing number of enrollees moving forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Health Care Stakeholders Prepare for Sanders as HELP Chair<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is setting a new tone for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee\u2019s legislative session. As Chair of the Committee, Sanders will serve as an important hinge on the door to health policy creation. As head of the Committee, Sanders aims to improve access to health care, improve wages for the health care workforce, allow drug importation from Canada, and possibly address the impacts of climate change on health.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lawmakers returned to Washington today to formally kick off the 118th Congress as the race for Speaker of the House remains in an unprecedented standstill. While Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) earned more than 200 votes from his Republican colleagues in the first two rounds of voting, he remains shy of the 218 votes necessary to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,7],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n