Hall Render's The Week in Washington - February 24, 2020

Congress returns this week after its President’s Day district work period. HHS Secretary Azar is testifying before four different congressional committees on the administration’s Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2021 budget request. Also, the White House is expected to submit a formal request for emergency funding for the Coronavirus. The funding is unlikely to become a catch-all for unrelated health care program funding but will create a “must-pass” legislation opportunity for Congress.

A Look at the Week Ahead

Tuesday: HHS Secretary Azar testifies before the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations subcommittee on the president’s FY 2021 budget request to Congress. Expect Azar to get pushback from Democrats and even some Republicans on Medicaid, regarding the recent transparency rule and their January 30 block grant proposal. Azar may also begin lobbying appropriators on emergency funding for the Coronavirus and weigh in with support for Senator Grassley’s drug pricing legislation. Two weeks ago, Azar said he supports the Grassley Drug Pricing bill, S. 2543. The Finance Committee is still working on changes to the legislation.

The full House convenes at 2:00 PM with five suspension votes at 6:30 PM. All five are Veterans Affairs. The Senate is expected to hold procedural votes on two abortion bills. S. 3275 would ban abortion after 20 weeks. S. 311 would provide protections for an infant born alive after an attempted abortion. Neither bill is likely to receive 60 votes to overcome an expected filibuster.

Wednesday: Secretary Azar testifies before the House Labor-HHS Appropriations subcommittee in the morning. In the afternoon, he testifies for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Expect House Democrats to put the administration’s actions on Medicaid under the microscope.

On the floor, the full House has eight bills on the suspension calendar; all are natural resources bills.

Thursday: Secretary Azar testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee. The major House floor vote this week will be H.R. 2339, regarding youth tobacco legislation. This bill targets youth vaping and flavored cigarettes marketed towards teenagers.

Friday: Last House votes are expected early afternoon.

Other notes: On Friday, February 21, HHS issued its Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs. The report describes examples of EHR related burdens, as well as recommendations that HHS and other stakeholders can use to help providers. The report was required under the 21^st Century Cures Act.

In case you missed it, the House Ways and Means Committee introduced their comprehensive Surprise Medical Billing legislation prior to Valentine’s Day. A bulk of the committee is co-sponsoring the bipartisan measure, both Republicans and Democrats.

Health-Related Bills Recently Introduced

Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) introduced H.R. 5924. The bill seeks to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a loan repayment program to encourage specialty medicine physicians to serve in rural communities experiencing a shortage of specialty medicine physicians.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced H.R. 5916, the transparent Health Care Pricing Act. The bill would require that all providers publicly disclose on the internet and in print, point-of-sale cash prices of health care products and services. On the Senate side, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced the companion measure, S. 3318.

Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) introduced H.R. 5894, the transparency in the Prescription Drug Advertising Act. The bill would require CMS and FDA issue guidelines requiring the list prices of drugs to be included in all advertising of drugs.

Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced H.R. 5882. The bill amends Title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide states with the option under Medicaid to pay for covered outpatient drugs through risk-sharing value-based agreements.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced S. 3290. The bill amends Title XI of the Social Security Act to require HHS to verify whether a health care provider is licensed in good standing before issuing the provider a unique health identifier.

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