Articles and Blogs

Bill Introduced to Prevent 340B Cuts On November 14, a bipartisan bill was introduced to prevent CMS from implementing the $1.6 billion cut to the 340B drug discount program. The legislation, introduced by Reps. David McKinley (R-WV) and Mike Thompson (D-CA), pushes HHS to maintain the current 340B discount rate of Average Sales Price... READ MORE

House Advances Tax Reform Legislation On November 9, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced legislation that would overhaul the nation’s tax code for the first time since 1986. The next day, the Senate Finance Committee released its tax reform proposal, which Chairman Orin Hatch (R-UT) said would be advanced by the committee next... READ MORE

CMS Drastically Cuts 340B Payments in 2018 OPPS/ASC Final Rule On November 1, CMS released the final rule updating the hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) rates by 1.35 percent in CY 2018 compared to 2017. This is down from 1.75 percent in the proposed rule. In addition, CMS removed total knee replacements from... READ MORE

Hatch-Brady Proposal Introduced as Alternative Market Stabilization Plan On October 24, Senate Finance chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and House Ways and Means chair Kevin Brady (R-TX) proposed a bicameral agreement for ACA market stabilization. Similar to the Senate HELP Committee proposal released last week, Hatch-Brady includes two years of funding for the ACA’s cost-sharing... READ MORE

Senate Introduces Bipartisan Market Stabilization Legislation On October 18, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced their individual market stabilization bill. The bill includes 11 Republican and 11 Democratic co-sponsors. The legislation proposes to restore funding for cost-sharing reduction payments for two years. The White House... READ MORE

Trump Administration Announces Plans to Weaken ACA On October 12, President Trump signed an executive order to overhaul health insurance regulations. The order instructs the Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services to expand health coverage through inexpensive, short-term health plans exempt from current Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) insurance market rules. One... READ MORE

House and Senate Committees Advance CHIP Funding After Congress missed the September 30 deadline to renew funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”), both the House and Senate worked to advance bipartisan CHIP legislation this week. The Senate Finance Committee advanced a bill, known as the Keep Kids’ Insurance Dependable and Secure (“KIDS”)... READ MORE

No Deal for Repeal: Congress Considers Next Steps On September 26, Senate leadership announced they would not hold a vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal the ACA. The vote was called off after Republicans realized they would not reach the requisite 50 votes needed to pass the legislation prior to the September 30... READ MORE

Senate Prepares for Graham-Cassidy ACA Repeal Vote Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced this week that he intends to hold a vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill next week. The intended vote would come just days before the September 30 deadline to repeal and replace the ACA through reconciliation, which allows the Senate to... READ MORE

Ways and Means Advances Hall Render’s Stark Initiative On September 13, the House Ways & Means Committee advanced three health care bills, including a revised version of the Stark Administrative Simplification Act of 2017 (H.R. 3726). The bipartisan bill, which passed unanimously, is the product of the coalition of hospitals and health systems created... READ MORE