LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY UPDATE
Week in Brief
CMS Gives Providers More Flexibility Regarding MACRA Requirements for 2017.
Congress Returns to Washington this Week After the Summer Recess.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
September 6
Senate Fails to Approve Zika Funding Legislation.
House Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce Leaders Write to HHS Regarding MACRA Flexibility.
Senate Finance Committee Republicans Issue Three Separate Press Statements on the Affordable Care Act.
September 7
House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) Says Senate Version of 21st Century Cures Legislation Unlikely to Pass Until After Elections.
House Ways & Means Committee Holds Hearing on Medicare Part A and Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing.
September 8
House Ways & Means Committee Advances Two Health Care Bills Regarding ESRD and CO-OPs.
House Energy & Commerce Committee Convenes Hearing on Five Public Health Bills.
September 9
House Energy & Commerce Committee Examines Federal Mental Health Parity Laws in Hearing.
Bipartisan Leaders of House Committees Applaud CMS’s Latest Proposal to Increase Flexibility for Providers Participating in MACRA Programs.
REGULATORY UPDATE
Department of Health and Human Services
September 6
HHS Issues Proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2018.
HHS Releases Interim Final Rule to Adjust for Inflation the Maximum Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) Amounts for Various CMP Authorities for All HHS agencies.
September 7
ASPR Awards $8.2 Million Contract for the Development of a Zika Vaccine.
September 8
CMS Issues Final Rule Establishing National Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Providers and Suppliers Participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
HHS Awards the American Academy of Pediatrics $350,000 to Increase Capacity for Caring for Children Who May Be or Are Affected by the Zika Virus.
Other News
GAO Releases Reports:
- Medicaid: Key Policy and Data Considerations for Designing a Per Capita Cap on Federal Funding. (Sept. 9)
September 2
CRS Highlights Challenges for Blood Centers Posed by Zika Virus.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Department of Health and Human Services
- Meeting of the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee
- Discussions about the process by which physician-focused payment model proposals will be received and reviewed by the Committee after the Secretary establishes criteria for physician-focused payment models through rulemaking.
- September 16 | 9 a.m. ‐ 12:30 p.m.
Senate Meeting Room, Residence Inn
333 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20004
- September 16 | 9 a.m. ‐ 12:30 p.m.
- Discussions about the process by which physician-focused payment model proposals will be received and reviewed by the Committee after the Secretary establishes criteria for physician-focused payment models through rulemaking.
Congressional Hearings
SENATE
- Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs
- The State of Health Insurance Markets
- September 15 | 10 a.m
SD342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
- September 15 | 10 a.m
- The State of Health Insurance Markets
- Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
- The Future of the VA: Examining the Commission on Care Report and VA’s Response
- September 12 | 2:30 p.m.
SR-418 Russell Senate Office Building
- September 12 | 2:30 p.m.
- The Future of the VA: Examining the Commission on Care Report and VA’s Response
HOUSE
- Committee on Ways & Means
- Exploring the Use of Technology and Innovation to Create Efficiencies, Higher Quality, and Better Access for Beneficiaries in Health Care
- September 14 | 10 a.m.
1100 Longworth House Office Building
- September 14 | 10 a.m.
- Exploring the Use of Technology and Innovation to Create Efficiencies, Higher Quality, and Better Access for Beneficiaries in Health Care
- Committee on Energy & Commerce
- The Affordable Care Act on Shaky Ground: Outlook and Oversight
- September 14 | 10 a.m.
HVC-210 Capitol Building
- September 14 | 10 a.m.
- The Affordable Care Act on Shaky Ground: Outlook and Oversight
- Committee on Oversight & Government Reform
- Examining the Affordable Care Act’s Premium Increases
- September 14 | 9 a.m.
2154 Rayburn House Office Building
- September 14 | 9 a.m.
- Examining the Affordable Care Act’s Premium Increases
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.