On June 24, 2015, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee is holding a hearing to examine the Obama Administration’s approval of Medicaid demonstration projects. According to a background memo, the panel will focus on the following questions:
Continue Reading Energy & Commerce Committee Hearing on Administration’s Approval of Medicaid Demonstrations

On June 25, 2015, the Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee will review three bipartisan bills that aim to improve health care for newborns, infants, and children. Specifically, members will discuss:

  • H.R. 2820, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act, to reauthorize programs that promote bone marrow, adult stem cell, and cord blood donations, match

On June 2, 2015, the House Ways and Means Committee approved ten health policy bills, including legislation to repeal the ACA’s medical device tax and the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Other measures would make a series of changes to Medicare Advantage (MA) requirements and Medicare long-term care hospital (LTCH) policy. Specifically, the Committee approved the following bills:
Continue Reading Ways and Means Committee Approves Health Policy Bills, Including Repeal of ACA Medical Device Tax & IPAB, and Medicare Advantage/LTCH Policy Changes

On June 3, 2015, the Senate Finance Committee approved by voice vote a bipartisan proposal to reform the Medicare audit and appeals process in an attempt to help ease the backlog of Medicare appeals and promote efficiency and transparency. The draft proposal, the “Audit & Appeal Fairness, Integrity, and Reforms in Medicare Act of 2015,” would, among other things:Continue Reading Senate Finance Committee Approves Medicare Appeals Reform Proposal

As we reported last week, on May 21, 2015, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 6, the “21st Century Cures Act,” by a bipartisan, unanimous 51-0 vote. This major legislation is intended to accelerate the pace of medical cures in the United States through a variety of reforms addressing drug and device development and approval, clinical trial design, research funding, interoperability of health technology, and other issues. This blog post focuses on the bill’s proposed Sunshine Act (aka Open Payments) changes, which would broaden exclusions related to the provision of education-related payments or transfers of value.
Continue Reading 21st Century Cures Bill Includes Proposal to Broaden Sunshine Act Exclusions Related to Education

Today the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 6, the “21st Century Cures Act,” by a bipartisan, unanimous 51-0 vote. This major legislation is intended to accelerate the pace of medical cures in the United States through a variety of reforms addressing drug and device development and approval, clinical trial design, research funding, interoperability

Later today, the full House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to begin markup of the 21st Century Cures Act, following Health Subcommittee approval on May 14. Votes are expected tomorrow (markup was subsequently delayed until May 21).  Also today, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health is holding a hearing on “Improving Competition

Tomorrow the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up the 21st Century Cures Act; the Subcommittee has posted a substitute amendment that will be considered by the panel.  Also tomorrow, the Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing on improving care for Medicare patients with chronic conditions.

Looking ahead

Congressional committees have held several hearings this week on health policy issues. On March 24, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a hearing on the 340B drug pricing program. Also on March 24, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight examined CMS’s use of the Fraud Prevention System (FPS) to identify and stop

On March 24, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight is holding a hearing on CMS’s use of the Fraud Prevention System (FPS) to identify and stop Medicare fraud. Government and non-governmental witnesses will discuss the progress that the FPS has made and how data analysis is being used to identify and stop Medicare

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on Thursday, March 5, 2015 on “Examining the 340B Drug Pricing Program,” focusing on the functionality of the program and the extent to which it meets its goal of improving access to prescription drugs for needy patients at facilities serving these populations. Scheduled

On February 26, 2015, the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to vote on the following bills:

  • H.R. 1021, “Protecting the Integrity of Medicare Act of 2015” – a sweeping bill to promote Medicare program integrity and efficiency. Among many other things, the bill would: eliminate civil money penalties for inducements to physicians to

On February 11, 2015, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the following bipartisan public health bills:

  • H.R. 471, Ensuring Patient Access to Effective Drug Enforcement Act (to improve enforcement efforts regarding prescription drug diversion and abuse);
  • H.R. 639, Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies Act, as amended (to amend the Controlled Substances Act

The following Congressional panels have held hearings recently on various health policy issues:

  • The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee held a hearing entitled, “Can Americans Trust the Privacy and Security of their Information on HealthCare.gov?”;
  • The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the reemergence of vaccine-preventable diseases; and

Three health policy hearings are scheduled for February 26, 2015: