{"id":3303,"date":"2022-03-28T21:27:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T21:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thornrun.com\/health-policy-report-3-28\/"},"modified":"2022-03-28T21:27:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T21:27:09","slug":"health-policy-report-3-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thornrun.com\/health-policy-report-3-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Policy Report (3\/28)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Capitol Hill Update<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both chambers of Congress will be in session this week for a busy legislative work period, headlined by the release of President Joe Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request. The President’s request is expected to be formally unveiled later today, with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young set to testify before the House and Senate Budget Committees to field inquiries from lawmakers on the request. Congressional appropriators are expected to ramp up their appropriations activities in the coming weeks once the budget is released, starting with a House Appropriations Committee\u00a0hearing<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday featuring Secretary Xavier Becerra to review the Department of Health and Human Service’s (HHS) FY 2023 budget request. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

On the floor this\nweek, House lawmakers are slated to take up a bipartisan bill out of the Ways\nand Means Committee that would implement a number of provisions aimed at\nbolstering access to retirement savings. The Securing a Strong Retirement Act (H.R. 2954<\/a>) is expected\nto pass with strong support on both sides of the aisle, but timing for Senate\nconsideration is unclear as of now. Additionally, Members will consider\nlegislation out of the Judiciary Committee that would decriminalize cannabis at\nthe federal level. However, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and\nExpungement (MORE) Act (H.R. 3617<\/a>) is not likely\nto advance in the 50-50 Senate due to GOP opposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Senate\nis slated to vote on final passage of the America Creating Opportunities for\nManufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (America\nCOMPETES) Act (H.R. 4521<\/a>). Once the\nAmerica COMPETES Act is sent back to the House, lawmakers in both chambers will\nhave the opportunity to go to conference in an effort to produce a final\ncompromise version of the technology research and innovation package. The\nSenate is also expected to resume consideration of President Biden\u2019s pending\nnominees, starting with Nani Coloretti to be Deputy OMB Director. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats Look to Push\nForward on Insulin Reform <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Democrats\u2019 hopes\nfor large-scale drug pricing reform falter, lawmakers are honing their sights\non changes to insulin pricing policy. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck\nSchumer said that he plans to bring a bill to the floor after Easter that would\naddress the cost of insulin. He confirmed that the legislation would cap\nout-of-pocket (OOP) costs at $35 per month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Leader\nSchumer said that he would combine the insulin cap outlined in the Affordable\nInsulin Now Act (S.3700<\/a>; H.R.6833<\/a>) with a\nforthcoming bill from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME).\nWhile details of the latter bill are still being hammered out, reports suggest\nthat it will focus on policies to compel pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) to\nbring down the list price of insulin. An eventual combination of these bills\nwill likely invite criticism from Republicans and manufacturer stakeholders, as\nwell as from Democrats who are concerned that an insulin bill will negate\nmomentum for a larger drug pricing package. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FDA to Study DTC\nDisclosures<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, the Food\nand Drug Administration (FDA)confirmed<\/a> that it will\ntest the impact of accelerated approval pathway disclosures on\ndirect-to-consumer (DTC) websites to consumer understanding of a product\u2019s\nregulatory context. The FDA\u2019s interest in the connection between accelerated\napproval disclosures and consumer understanding comes as the accelerated\napproval pathway is under scrutiny. Manufacturers with drugs approved under the\npathway are required to include a label that notes the drug may be less\neffective due to the approval process. Some drugmakers also disclose this fact\non their DTC website for an applicable drug. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preliminary results\nfrom a 2019 FDA study indicated that consumer-friendly disclosures are useful\nin helping patients understand the context around the disclosures, though study\nparticipants generally had low levels of understanding around the accelerated approval\npathway. FDA plans to expand this research by conducting two additional\nstudies. However, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America\n(PhRMA) expressed concern that FDA\u2019s new research initiative will be redundant\nof the agency\u2019s 2019 study. The group is also worried that a possible mandate\non accelerated approval pathways DTC disclosure would contradict the intent of\nthe accelerated pathway by limiting patients\u2019 access to these treatments.\nInstead, PhRMA asserted that it would be more efficacious for FDA to look at\nthe patient-provider relationship to discuss a drug\u2019s regulatory pathway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Program to Cover\nUninsured COVID-19 Needs Ends <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The COVID-19 relief\nprogram intended to reimburse providers caring for the uninsured is no longer accepting\nclaims for COVID-19 related testing and treatments and it will no longer\nprocess vaccination claims after April 5. Hospitals are growing increasingly\nconcerned as additional COVID-19 funding hangs in the balance of lawmakers\u2019\ndebates regarding additional pandemic funding. Covering care for uninsured\npatients stems from the COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement program and is funded\nthrough the Provider Relief Fund (PRF). The program reimburses testing,\ntreatment, and vaccination, as well as some durable medical equipment (DME)\ncosts such as oxygen and ventilators. Leadership from the Federation of\nAmerican Hospitals and America\u2019s Essential Hospitals are focusing their efforts\non encouraging House and Senate leadership to replenish the Claims Reimbursement\nprogram, while the American Hospital Association is concentrating its\nCongressional efforts on replenishing the PRF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Romney Works\nto Get GOP on Board with Pandemic Relief <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month,\nCongress signed a $1.5 trillion government funding bill that excluded over $15\nbillion in COVID-19 relief being sought by Democrats. Now, lawmakers are going\nback to the drawing board on pandemic-related policies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, Sen. Mitt\nRomney (R-UT) confirmed that he is working with his party on crafting a counter\nproposal to Democrats\u2019 COVID-19 funding wish list. The negotiations are focused\non ways to pay the bill\u2019s price tag, though it is unclear what those offsets\nmay contain. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed that\nleadership is involved in the talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate HELP Examines\nMental Health, SUD Programs <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the Senate\nHealth, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing<\/a> (TRP summary<\/a>) to address\nopportunities for, challenges to, and emerging issues with federal mental\nhealth and substance use disorder (SUD) programs. Throughout the hearing,\nmembers inquired about ways to increase access to mental and behavioral health\nsupport, reduce and prevent SUD and overdose deaths, and strengthen the\nbehavioral health care workforce. Members on both sides of the aisle supported\nrevamping these programs to improve patients\u2019 lives, especially after, and\nduring, the COVID-19 pandemic. Some Republican members focused on increasing\ndata collection efforts and performance measures to evaluate adequate funding\nappropriations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders from the\nSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health\nResources and Services Administration (HRSA), National Institute of Mental\nHealth (NIMH), and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) joined the Committee\nto discuss the ways in which the agencies were supporting the Biden\nadministration\u2019s mental health strategy. The witnesses spoke about current\nprograms and research efforts that were aimed at meeting the needs of those,\nwith mental health issues and SUDs, especially the youth population. Notably,\nthe agency leaders supported increasing awareness around mental health issues,\nintegrating behavioral health services into primary care, using\nmedication-assisted treatment (MAT) for those with SUDs, disseminating naloxone\nmore widely, and improving the mental health workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Aging Committee\nDiscusses HCBS Funding, Workforce <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Aging held ahearing<\/a> (TRP summary<\/a>) to discuss the role of home- and community-based services (HCBS) for older individuals and people with disabilities. During the hearing, members generally supported the notion that increased funding for HCBS would lead to better health outcomes for beneficiaries. Specifically, members suggested that additional funding would provide for enhanced access to services for those who qualify by: (1) reducing the number of individuals on the \u201cwaitlist\u201d for home care; and (2) increasing the number of caregivers by providing higher wages and benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, members called for additional funding to be allocated towards continuing education for the HCBS workforce, highlighting the need to establish workforce compensation rates that allow states to obtain and retain properly trained caregivers. Witnesses echoed many of the comments made by members, advocating for added federal funding to ensure that populations in need of HCBS are able to access these services effectively and efficiently.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Capitol Hill Update Both chambers of Congress will be in session this week for a busy legislative work period, headlined by the release of President Joe Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request. The President’s request is expected to be formally unveiled later today, with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young set […]<\/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":"\nHealth Policy Report (3\/28) - thornrun<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thornrun.com\/health-policy-report-3-28\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health Policy Report (3\/28) - thornrun\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Capitol Hill Update Both chambers of Congress will be in session this week for a busy legislative work period, headlined by the release of President Joe Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request. 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