LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY UPDATE
Week in Brief
President Barack Obama Signs into Law the 21st Century Cures Act and the Continuing Resolution.
Senate HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), House Energy & Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and House Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) Release Statements on Passage of the 21st Century Cures Act.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
December 9
House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Pitts (R-PA), and House Energy & Commerce Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) Send a Letter to CMS Regarding the Misclassification on EpiPens.
December 12
Incoming House Energy & Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) Announces Paul Edattel Will Remain Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on Health.
December 13
Senate Finance Committee Republicans Invite Republican Governors to Roundtable Discussion on Future of Medicaid.
December 14
Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) Release Statement Praising Final Rule Reinforcing Protections for Title X Health Care Providers.
REGULATORY UPDATE
Department of Health and Human Services
December 12
HHS Releases Report Stating Hospital-Acquired Conditions Fell 21% Between 2010 and 2015.
CMS Issues Its FY 2015 Report to Congress on Recovery Auditing in Medicare Fee-For-Service.
December 13
HHS ONC Showcases Applications that Import Health IT Data from Vendors to One Consolidated List of Medications.
ASPE Releases Report, Compilation of State Data on the Affordable Care Act.
CDC Highlights Study, Zika Virus RNA Replication and Persistence in Brain and Placental Tissue.
December 14
CMS Issues Interim Final Rule with Comment Period Implementing Requirements for Medicare-Certified Dialysis Facilities that Make Premium Payments for Individual Market Health Plans.
CMS Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Information Collections Entitled, Conditions of Participation: Requirements for Approval and Reapproval of Transplant Centers to Perform Organ Transplants and Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Assumption of Responsibilities and Supporting Regulations.
SAMHSA Announces Approximately $1 Billion in New Grants to Respond to the Prescription Opioid and Heroin Crisis.
HHS Issues Final Rule Clarifying the Regulations for Family Planning Services Pursuant to Title X of the Public Health Service Act.
The Long-Term Care Hospital Compare Website and the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Compare Website Launch.
December 15
CMS Announces Medicare-Medicaid ACO Model.
CMS to Offer a Second Round of CPC+ Solicitations for Payers and Practices for the 2018 Performance Year.
CMS Highlights Clinicians’ Opportunities to Join Advanced Alternative Payment Models.
Department of Veterans Affairs
December 14
VA Issues Final Rule with Comment Period on Advance Practice Registered Nurse Practice Authority.
Other Updates
December 9
GAO Issues Report, Medicare Value-based Payment Models: Participation Challenges and Available Assistance for Small and Rural Practices.
December 13
Brookings Institute Publishes Report, Why Repealing the ACA Before Replacing It Won’t Work, and What Might.
December 15
GAO Releases Report, Medicare: Initial Results of Revised Process to Screen Providers and Suppliers, and Need for Objectives and Performance Measures.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Department of Health and Human Services
- Technical Advisory Panel on Medicare Trustee Reports Meeting
- Presentations on prescription drug spending, spillover effects, long range growth, sustainability of provider payments, and methods for transitioning from short- to long-term projections.
- December 19 | 9:15 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- December 20 | 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Hubert Humphrey Building – Room 738G.3
200 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20201
- Presentations on prescription drug spending, spillover effects, long range growth, sustainability of provider payments, and methods for transitioning from short- to long-term projections.
For more information about this issue of Power Play: Washington Week in Review or more legislative and regulatory updates, contact the Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville Government Relations and Public Policy group at (202) 466-6550.