On July 13, 2016, the Ways and Means Committee approved HR 5659, which would enable Medicare beneficiaries with end stage renal disease (ESRD) to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans. Earlier this month, the Committee approved HR 5613, to prevent CMS from enforcing a Medicare requirement for direct physician supervision of certain outpatient therapeutic services furnished in critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals through 2016. In addition, on July 12, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved HR 3299, Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response Act, to provide incentives for companies to develop medical countermeasures for public health emergencies and biochemical attacks, and for other purposes.