Tag: HHS

Becerra Budget Hearings  This week US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Becerra will begin testifying in front of various congressional committees on the HHS budget. HHS proposes $1.7 trillion in mandatory f...

IS THIS MEDICAID WEEK?

• It Has Been 73 Days Since the CARES Act Passed. The bill created the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and allocated $100 billion to reimburse providers for lost revenues resulting from COVID-19....

  M+ Check-Up: June 05, 2020

  This Week’s Dose: House Republicans released proposals to support coronavirus (COVID-19) testing, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) released new flexibil...

  M+ Check-Up: May 29, 2020

  This Week’s Dose: Negotiations over the coronavirus (COVID-19) response continued in the Senate with Democrats releasing a new proposal on health coverage expansion. The Trump Ad...

  M+ Check-Up: May 22, 2020

  This Week’s Dose: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) distributed funding to increase coronavirus (COVID-19) testing capacity and announced a targeted Provider Rel...

  M+ Check-Up: May 15, 2020

  This Week’s Dose:  House Democrats introduced a $3 trillion coronavirus (COVID-19) relief bill, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released annual upda...

  M+ Check-Up: May 8, 2020

  This Week’s Dose: The Senate returned to Washington as lawmakers continued negotiations on the next relief bill. Oral arguments took place in three high-profile healthcare-r...

  M+ Check-Up: April 24, 2020

  This Week’s Dose: Congress approved additional emergency relief for healthcare providers and small businesses, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced...

  M+ Check-Up: April 17, 2020

  This Week’s Dose: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) opened the online portal for providers to attest to the terms and conditions for the first $30 billion dis...

  M+ Check-Up: COVID-19 Update

  This Week’s Diagnosis: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to drive activity in Washington, DC. This week, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic...

  M+ Check-Up: March 20, 2020

  This Week’s Dose: The response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) continued to dominate lawmakers’ attention. The Senate passed the second emergency funding bill and began work on a third. The A...

  M+ Healthcare Preview: March 16, 2020

  ADDRESSING THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC.

  • The Senate is in Session to Address COVID-19. Last week, the House passed a second supplemental funding package in response to COVID-19. The Fa...

    M+ Healthcare Preview: March 02, 2020

    CORONAVIRUS SPREADS TO POLITICS.

    • The Coronavirus is Taking Over Washington. Last week, the coronavirus became the focal point for Congress, the Administration and the general public. The growing attent...

      M+ Check-Up: February 28, 2020

      This Week’s Dose: The Administration requested emergency funding to fight the coronavirus epidemic, and US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar defended the Presi...

      M+ Healthcare Preview: February 24, 2020

      AZAR DEFENDS THE HHS BUDGET THIS WEEK.

      • Azar Continues to Defend the HHS Budget. It will be a busy week for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar. He will be defending the HHS bu...

        M+ Check-Up: February 14, 2020

        This Week’s Dose: House committees advanced legislation to address surprise billing, and the White House released the President’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021.

        M+ Healthcare Preview: February 10, 2020

        IT’S SURPRISE BILLING AND BUDGET WEEK.   

        • It’s Another Busy Week For Surprise Billing Proposals. Last week ended with a flurry of activity relating to surprise billing. First, the House ...

          M+ Check-Up: February 07, 2020

          This Week’s Dose: The House Ways and Means and Education and Labor committees released information on their surprise billing proposals, and President Trump delivered the State of the Union on...

          M+ Check-Up: January 24, 2020

          This Week’s Dose: It was a relatively quiet week in Washington with the House of Representatives in recess and the Senate enmeshed in the impeachment trial. Activity is sure to pick up as soo...

          M+ Check-Up: January 17, 2020

          This Week’s Dose: The House of Representatives voted to formally present the articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate, kicking off the trial phase of the impeachment pro...

          M+ Check-Up: December 20, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: The 2019 legislative session has come to an end. Lawmakers reached a deal to fund the government through fiscal year (FY) 2020, the House of Representatives impeached Presid...

          M+ Check-Up: November 1, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: Drug pricing discussions continued in Congress. The full House and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced health bills.

          M+ Check-Up: September 6, 2019

          The Recess Dose: With the August recess wrapping up, we are back at the McDermottPlus Weekly Check-Up. Here’s what you may have missed over the break. Ad...

          M+ Check-Up: August 2, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: Things have quieted down in Congress with the House out of session and the Senate wrapping up its last week before the August recess. But the agencies are still at work, so ...

          M+ Check-Up: June 28, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: Lots of movement in Congress ahead of the Fourth of July recess with the House and Senate both advancing a number of health care bills. President Trump also signed an execut...

          M+ Check-Up: June 21, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: Three weeks down, one week to go in this work period. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is moving forward with its cost containment legislati...

          M+ Check-Up: May 24, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: We saw a flurry of activity this week related to drug pricing, surprise billing, cost containment and tobacco as lawmakers worked through their to-do list ahead of the Memor...

          M+ Check-Up: May 10, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: Another busy week for prescription drug pricing. Two more hearings took place on the subject, and a handful of bills passed out of the House. Now we watch the Senate to see ...

          M+ Check-Up: May 3, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: Lots of activity surrounding single-payer this week with a hearing, the introduction of two Medicare expansion bills and a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)....

          M+ Check-Up: April 26, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: When Congress is away, the agencies will play. The Administration made some major announcements and dropped several new important rules this week, giving stakeholders plenty...

          M+ Check-Up: April 5, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: Health care continues to dominate much of the attention on Capitol Hill. Lots of hearings. New coverage expansion legislation. And more state action on Medicaid.

          M+ Check-Up: March 29, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: Congress is back and busy. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) dominates the headlines. Congress Democrats Release H...

          M+ Check-Up: March 22, 2019

          This Week’s Diagnosis: Recess usually means a light week. This one is no different. Congress PBMs Will Get Their Day…Just a We...

          M+ Check-Up: March 15, 2019

          This Week’s Diagnosis: All about the budget. Medicaid work requirements back in the spotlight. Recess awaits. Congress Azar Make...

          M+ Check-Up: March 8, 2019

          This Week’s Diagnosis: Hearings, hearings and more hearings. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is stepping down. Budget talks heat up. Congress

          M+ Check-Up: February 8, 2019

          This Week’s Dose: The State of the Union briefly highlighted a few Administration health initiatives. The House continues its focus on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Senate is pressuring ...

          M+ Check-Up: February 1, 2019

          This Week’s Diagnosis: Government reopens…for at least three weeks. Congress is full steam ahead, kicking off the 116^th with health care hearings on drug pricing and pre-existing...

          M+ Check-Up: January 18, 2019

          Congress Shutdown Stalemate. Over the past two weeks, the Democratic-controlled House has voted to fund the federal agencies affected by the shutdown. There have been short- a...

          M+ Check-Up: January 11, 2019

          This Week’s Diagnosis: Welcome back – sort of. The partial federal government shutdown drags on. We are on day 21 with no end in sight, ...

          M+ Check-Up: December 14, 2018

          This Week’s Diagnosis: President Trump clashed with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in a meeting this week about how to keep the go...

          M+ Check-Up: December 7, 2018

          This Week’s Diagnosis: Memorial services for President George H.W. Bush were held this week in Washington, DC and Texas. No agreement has been reached on border wall funding, which means Memb...

          M+ Check-Up: November 30, 2018

          This Week’s Diagnoses: Welcome back! Members are back in town for a sprint to the finish. Controversy over the House Democratic leadership elections fizzled, with the same faces in the top th...

          M+ Check-Up: September 28, 2018

          This Week’s Diagnosis: Consideration of the Kavanaugh nomination dominated airtime in the Senate this week, but the House stayed on-task, pushing through a number of health-related bills.