Legislative Activity House to Vote on Additional Health Care Legislation This week Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on two pieces of health care legislation. These bills are part of the third phase of Speaker Paul Ryan’s repeal and replace strategy. H.R. 2579, the Broader Options … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Secretary Price to Testify on HHS Budget Request This Thursday, June 8, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price will appear before the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means to defend the President’s FY 2018 Budget titled “A New Foundation for American Greatness.” The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity FDA User Fee Reauthorization Moves to Full Committee While passing health reform through Congress has been a struggle, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fee legislation has quickly moved through the regular order process in a bipartisan fashion. S. 934/H.R. 2430, Food and Drug Administration Reauthorization Act of 2017 (FDARA), renews FDA’s … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Finance to Discuss CHRONIC Care Act On Tuesday, May 16, the Senate Committee on Finance will hold a hearing titled “Examining Bipartisan Medicare Policies that Improve Care for Patients with Chronic Conditions.” The Committee will discuss S. 870, Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act of 2017, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity AHCA’s Final Act? On Friday, April 28, Congress passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government until Friday, May 5. The extension gives Republicans until the end of the week to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. Then, House Republican leadership will likely turn again to addressing … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Gottlieb Confirmation Hearing Set for April 5 On Wednesday, April 5, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) will hold a confirmation hearing for Dr. Scott Gottlieb, President Trump’s nominee for Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Gottlieb held a number of senior positions at the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Health Reform Benched By Republican Leadership Repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been the goal of Republicans in Congress for the last seven years. Health reform was front and center during the campaign and it was President Trump and Speaker Ryan’s first priority out of the starting blocks in 2017. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity The Repeal and Replace Effort Moves to the House Budget Committee After two marathon markups, the Republican repeal and replace effort is expected to continue on to the House Committee on the Budget. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Ways and Means endured partisan markups due to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Potential for Reconciliation Language to Move Through Committees This Week With reports that reconciliation language was available for House Republicans to review last week, sources indicate that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Ways and Means may mark up their respective reconciliation language this Wednesday, March 8, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Repeal and Replace or Repair and Rebrand? With reconciliation instructions in the FY 2017 spending bill that initiate the House and Senate committees with health care jurisdiction to reduce the deficit, Republicans in both chambers are eager to use the fast-track, fifty-vote process to repeal and replace as much of the Affordable Care … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Price Anticipates Confirmation Vote On February 3, the Senate agreed to a procedural vote to move forward on Rep. Tom Price’s (R-GA) nomination for the position of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Senate could vote on his confirmation this week. While Republicans support Rep. Price and believe … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Obamacare Replacement Activity Escalates Although the Republican retreat in Philadelphia resulted in no clear repeal and replace strategy, House and Senate Republicans will continue to move forward and hold the first committee hearings to discuss potential health care reform legislation this week. Following President Trump’s Executive Order on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Price Finance Confirmation Hearing Set for Tuesday Last week, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) visited the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) for the first of two Senate confirmation hearings that resulted in the longest HELP confirmation hearing in over twenty years. The HELP hearing was heated, partisan, and merely a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Final 21st Century Cures Bill Released Over the weekend, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) released the final version of the 21st Century Cures Act. The bipartisan innovation package is the result of over two … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Republicans Discuss the Future of Obamacare After six years of complaining about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) it is time for Republicans to take action, however a divide on how to tackle the law has developed. There are Republican members who prefer a transition to the new system of health … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Consider Bipartisan Public Health Legislation This week, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced the consideration of two additional pieces of bipartisan health legislation. H.R. 1877, the Mental Health First Aid Act of 2016, introduced by Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Substance Abuse and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Republicans Seek to Attack the Affordable Care Act This week House Republicans are putting the Affordable Care Act’s summer headlines front and center. Both the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, as well as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, will hold … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Committee Chairs Call for Reconsideration of IANA Transition On September 8, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senate Commerce Committee) Chairman John Thune (R-SD), and Senate Committee on the Judiciary … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Vote on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) Conference Report Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced the Senate is expected to vote on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (S. 524) conference report this week. The bipartisan legislation authorizes grant programs; creates a task force on pain management; expands … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Republicans to Release ACA Alternative House Republicans announced they will release their long-awaited Affordable Care Act (ACA) Alternative this week. The Speaker’s Task Force on Health Care Reform was announced in January and is one of six committee-led task forces charged with developing “a bold, pro-growth agenda.” Members of the Health Care … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, Moves to Full Committee H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, introduced by Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), is being considered by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday, June 15. The bill … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity H.R. 5273, Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016, scheduled for House Floor Vote House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, announced H.R. 5273, Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016 (HIP-C), introduced by House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-WA), … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means Committee to Consider Proposals to Advance Hospital Reforms and Improve TANF On Tuesday, May 24, the House Committee on Ways and Means will continue their bipartisan work by marking up three pieces of legislation, including two bills to reform the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program and the much … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Opioid Bills Slated for House Floor Consideration This week, the House of Representatives will consider 11 bills focused on combatting the opioid crisis. The legislation being considered will act as House companion legislation to S. 524, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which passed the Senate in March. The bills being considered … Continue Reading
