One More Week Until Election Recess -
The House and Senate are in Washington, DC, for one more week before leaving until after election day. Over the weekend, congressional leaders struck a deal on a continuing resolution...more
Should Congress Stay or Should They Go Now?
Congress has two more weeks to extend government funding past the September 30 deadline through a short-term continuing resolution (CR). So, the question isn’t really if they...more
Congress is back from a long August recess. However, it is only back for a few weeks. During this window, there is only one major thing Congress must do: extend government funding past the September 30 deadline through a...more
9/10/2024
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Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
New Legislation ,
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Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Regulatory Agenda
Senate Staying Busy The House has started its August recess, so members are out until September 9, 2024. The Senate is in session, before joining the House in recess next week. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor...more
WILL WE EVER SEE “PRECEDENTED TIMES” AGAIN?
If the last month, if not the last several years, has felt like emotional-political whiplash, it is for good reason. We’ve witnessed the US Supreme Court issue landmark rulings,...more
Congress is back after being on recess for the July 4th holiday. This week brings several healthcare-related hearings, including a Senate Aging Committee hearing on healthcare costs, a Senate HELP Committee hearing on medical...more
HOUSE PARTIES -
The Senate is in recess until July 8. The House returns tomorrow and will be in session until its Independence Day break next week. (Quick note: the Healthcare Preview will also be on break next week.)...more
The House is in recess this week, while the Senate is in today, tomorrow and Thursday. With this being a short work week, there is limited committee activity. However, the Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing on...more
Congress Tackles Defense, Reproductive Health in Busy Week Ahead Congress is in session Tuesday through Friday of this week, and it is sure to be a politically charged few days. The House is bringing forth the 2025 National...more
6/11/2024
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Congressional Committees ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
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NDAA ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Senate Committees
Congress is in session for three weeks in June and also will be session for three weeks in July before the August recess. This week we continue to see committee activity examining various aspects of the healthcare space....more
Congress is in session this week, with the Senate in today and the House returning tomorrow. They will both be out next week for the Memorial Day recess break. As such, this will be a busy week in Congress, though once again...more
Both chambers of Congress are out of session today and return for the rest of the week.
Most healthcare priorities remain out of the congressional spotlight this week, but telehealth is still top of mind. As we...more
5/14/2024
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Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Final Rules ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
HELP ,
Laboratory Developed Tests ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicare ,
New Legislation ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
Both chambers of Congress are in session this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Senate is out today, and the House is out on Friday.
Both chambers will also hold healthcare-related hearings on Wednesday morning...more
Congress is back in session this week, with the House in today and the Senate returning tomorrow. They are back for a four-week stretch until the Memorial Day recess break. Congress has already moved many of the major bills...more
4/30/2024
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Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) ,
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Medicaid ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Committees ,
U.S. House
CONGRESS AWAY, ADMINISTRATION STILL IN PLAY -
Congress is mostly in recess this week, with the exception of the Senate returning on Tuesday, April 23, to consider the House-passed foreign aid package. Thus there are no...more
Neil deGrasse Tyson routinely reminds us that January 1 is “a cosmically arbitrary event, carrying no Astronomical significance,” and that bodes well for Congress, whose new year is just getting started.
Sure, it’s...more
At midnight on Friday, funding runs out for the remaining six FY 2024 annual spending bills: State – Foreign Operations, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor – Health and Human Services, Legislative Branch, and Financial...more
3/19/2024
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Congressional Committees ,
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Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Legislative Committees ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Ways and Means Committee
IT’S SHUTDOWN WEEK . . . AGAIN -
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Congress returns to session this week, with precious little time to avert a looming partial government shutdown at midnight on Friday. After...more
2/27/2024
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Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
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Senate Committees ,
U.S. House
THERE’S NO GOLD RUSH, SO THE CHIEFS ARE STILL IN TOWN -
Last week, we noted that the Senate was “scheduled” to begin a two-week recess today, February 12. We used that wording intentionally because we knew things could...more
CONGRESS BUYS MORE TIME -
Last Friday President Biden signed a short-term funding patch. This extends government funding through a continuing resolution (CR) into March. Specifically, this CR gives Congress until March 1...more
The Senate is back in session today, and the House comes back tomorrow. The beginning of 2024 is looking a lot like the end of 2023, with the big factor being the need to address government funding for fiscal year (FY) 2024....more
1/9/2024
/ Billing ,
Congressional Committees ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
HELP ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicare ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Price Transparency ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Senate Committees ,
U.S. House
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CONGRESS (BUT JUST FOR A WEEK)
Welcome to what should be the final legislative week of the calendar year.
The work that Congress does this week may provide insight into what will get...more
Two-Week Stretch Before Holiday Recess - Congress only has two weeks left in session for the rest of year. There is a lot to accomplish in those two weeks. While government funding has been punted into early 2024, Congress is...more
Limited Time Before the End of the Year and January 19 First, welcome back from what was hopefully a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving break. Although this year will not entail a year-end government funding package, we are...more
11/28/2023
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Congressional Committees ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
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Medicare ,
NDAA ,
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Payment Systems ,
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Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements
Will the Government Shut Down at the End of This Week?
We have reached the final work week during which Congress will need to come to an agreement on funding the government or enter a shutdown...more