Legislative Developments

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On January 27, 2015, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on bipartisan public health legislation, including:

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

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On January 8, 2015, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 30, the “Save American Workers Act.”  The legislation would amend the ACA’s definition of “full-time employee” for purposes of the requirement that certain employers provide health care coverage for their full-time employees. Specifically, the bill, which was approved on a 252 to 172 vote, would…

On December 16, 2014, Congress gave final approval to H.R. 5771, a tax extender bill that includes the “Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2014.” The ABLE Act provisions allow individuals with disabilities to establish tax free savings accounts to pay for qualified expenses (e.g. medical, post-secondary education, housing, and transportation expenses).

In preparation for legislative activity early next year, various lawmakers have issued open requests for feedback on several health policy initiatives. For instance:

  • The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee chairman and ranking member have released a bipartisan bill including a variety of Medicare fraud/abuse provisions, covering such issues as recovery audit contractors, prevention of

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In light of the recent Ebola outbreak and concerns over health safety, Congress has approved a bill (S. 2917) that would add Ebola to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) priority review voucher program, which is designed to incentivize the development of treatments and vaccines for neglected tropical diseases. The legislation was approved by…

On October 6, 2014, President Obama signed into law H.R. 4994, the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (the “IMPACT Act”). The IMPACT Act’s provisions will affect a broad range of post-acute care (PAC) providers: home health agencies (HHAs), skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), and long-term acute care hospitals…

On August 8, 2014, President Obama signed into law the following two bills approved by the Senate in July:

  • H.R. 4631, the Autism CARES Act, to continue federal research, early identification and intervention, and education related to autism; and
  • H.R. 3548, the Improving Trauma Care Act, to include in the Public Health Service Act definition of trauma injuries caused by thermal, electrical, chemical, or radioactive force.

In addition, prior to beginning the August recess, the House of Representatives approved the following bills: Continue Reading Two Health Policy Laws Enacted, Additional Bills Advance

The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health is seeking comments on a draft bill, the Protecting Integrity in Medicare Act of 2014, that is “aimed at combating fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare program.” The bill covers a range of Medicare and Medicaid policies, from establishing new alternative sanctions for technical physician self-referral violations to providing more flexibility in meeting durable medical equipment (DME) documentation requirements. Among other things, the bill would:
Continue Reading Ways and Means Committee Seeks Comments on Medicare Program Integrity Bill

The Senate Aging Committee has released a staff report entitled “Improving Audits: How We Can Strengthen the Medicare Program for Future Generations.”  The report describes the burden audits can impose on providers, and raises concerns that CMS’s current efforts are “aimed more at identifying and recovering improper payments that have already occurred, rather…

Congressional panels have held numerous hearings on health policy issues this month, including the following:

  • The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a series of hearings on its “21st Century Cures” initiative, focusing on personalized medicine, barriers to evidence development and communication, technological innovations, the patient perspective, and modernizing clinical trials. A separate hearing focused

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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley are asking providers, patients, insurers, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders for ideas on ways to improve the availability and utility of health care data, while protecting patient privacy. In particular, the Senators are requesting information on: the data sources that should be made more…

Recent Congressional hearings on health policy issues include the following:

  • A House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee “21st Century Cures Roundtable” discussed steps Congress can take to bridge the gap between medical advances and the regulatory policies that govern them, and ultimately advance digital and personalized health care. The panel also released a related white

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On May 28, 2014 the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health approved by voice vote three bipartisan public health bills:

  • H.R. 4299, “Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies Act,” which is intended to improve the Drug Enforcement Agency scheduling process for new FDA-approved drugs under the Controlled Substances Act and the registration process

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A number of Congressional panels have focused on following health policy issues recently, including the following:

  • The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee examined various Medicare hospital issues, including the CMS two-midnights policy, short inpatient stays, outpatient observation stays, Recovery Audit Contractor audits, and the appeals backlog.
  • The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a

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