Articles and Blogs

Conversation Shifts Back to Health Care in Washington Health care became a major discussion point for lawmakers after this week started with the Trump administration’s declaration that it supports a federal judge’s ruling that the entire Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) should be thrown out. This signals a shift in the Justice Department’s prior position... READ MORE

Presidential Budget for 2020 Proposes Major Health Care Cuts President Trump released his administration’s fiscal year 2020 budget this week. While this proposal stands little chance of being implemented in its entirety, it is a good indicator of where the administration’s priorities stand for the next year, and some of the provisions, especially those... READ MORE

Congress Tackles Health-Related Issues in Multiple Hearings This Week Congress looked at many health policy issues in a week jam-packed with hearings. Continuing Congress’s probe into drug pricing, the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on promoting competition to lower Medicare prescription drug costs. While lawmakers questioned whether the drug industry... READ MORE

House Democrats Unveil Single-Payor Legislation House Democrats introduced sweeping “Medicare for All” legislation, providing the most detailed plan to overhaul the current health care system by enrolling all U.S. residents in a single-payor, government-run health plan. It would cover a more expansive set of benefits than the current Medicare program and restructure payment for... READ MORE

Government Funded After Congress Borders on Another Shutdown Congressional negotiators have reached an agreement on a funding deal that avoids another partial government shutdown that would have occurred at midnight tonight. The measure would fund nine out of fifteen federal departments through September 30, 2019. President Trump is expected to sign the legislation into... READ MORE

Senate Lays Groundwork for Pricing Transparency Legislation A bipartisan group of senators continue to lay the groundwork for the introduction of pricing transparency legislation. On February 5, the senators released a letter seeking information from stakeholders as they prepare to introduce legislation that builds on draft legislation from last Congress. The effort is being... READ MORE

HHS Previews 2019 Regulatory Agenda At a symposium on Tuesday, Deputy HHS Secretary Eric Hargan and CMS Administrator Seema Verma outlined the administration’s health care strategy for 2019, which includes advancing the use of technology, adjusting payments in rural areas and testing new ways to reward high-quality care and reforms to the Stark and... READ MORE

Short-Term Funding Deal Reached to End Government Shutdown This afternoon, President Trump announced a deal to temporarily reopen the federal government and end the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The deal funds the remaining federal agencies until February 15, giving lawmakers more time to try to work out a compromise on the immigration and... READ MORE

Government Shutdown Continues With the partial government shutdown now on its 28th day, there is no doubt it will enter its second month. Lawmakers are headed home for the long holiday weekend, and no shutdown negotiations are currently scheduled for party leaders. House Democrats spent the week passing numerous continuing resolutions that would reopen the... READ MORE

Lawmakers Hit a Wall with Funding Negotiations – Shutdown Continues The three-week partial government shutdown continues without any progress towards an agreement to fund the federal government. Tomorrow, January 12, will mark the longest government shutdown on record as it exceeds the 21-day shutdown in 1996. Congress was in action this week. On Thursday,... READ MORE