Congress Is Back

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 debt and a House Ways and Means field hearing on medical innovation.

The focus and attention of Congress this week, however, will not be on legislating. Instead, all eyes are on Democrats’ responses to ongoing questions about President Biden’s health raised by his debate performance.

We also are anxiously awaiting the release of the proposed rules on the Physician Fee Schedule; the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System; and Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability. These three rules have all cleared the Office of Management and Budget review and as a result are likely to come out this week. Also, the Spring 2024 Unified Agenda was released on Friday, and outlines the Administration’s outstanding regulations and target release dates.

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