In This Issue:

- House Energy and Commerce Unanimously Advances 21st Century Cures Legislation

- Implementation of the Affordable Care Act

- Federal Regulatory Initiatives

- Congressional Initiatives

- Other Health Care News

- Upcoming Congressional Hearings

- Excerpt from House Energy and Commerce Unanimously Advances 21st Century Cures Legislation:

Despite a delay in the markup of the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) caused by ongoing negotiations over offsets and other controversial issues, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced the legislation to the House Floor in a 51-0 roll call vote.

As in previous hearings on the bill, Committee members largely used opening statements to praise the Committee’s effort and the bipartisan nature of the legislation. In bringing up the Manager’s amendment, Chairman Upton highlighted that the amendment would provide the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the funding it needs to implement the legislation, including creating an annual Cures Innovation Fund and exempting certain FDA user fees from sequestration. The manager’s amendment contained $13 billion in pay fors which drew from programs across the Committee’s jurisdiction including selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, limiting the federal Medicaid match for durable medical equipment to Medicare rates, instituting payment penalties for the use of outdated X-ray technology, and cutting the amount of time that private Medicare Part D drug plans receive reinsurance funds from the government before the money is spent on medical care.