Two deadlines to note for our readers:

• This Tuesday, June 10^th, is the date of the NJ Gubernatorial Primary. Here’s some background on the Democratic candidates. If you’re in the state, make sure to vote!

• CMS issued a Request for Information from the public on ways to deregulate Medicare providers. It’s a good chance to weigh in directly with the agency on how to eliminate the bureaucracy that interferes with patient care. The deadline for responses is this Tuesday, June 10^th at 11:59 PM EST. You can read and respond to the RFI here.

WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on renewed restrictions on immigration, three separate Executive Orders focused on airspace, including drones, airspace “sovereignty”, and supersonic flight, and launching the first digital tool to assist with their streamlined permitting goals. One item of interest for us:

• • They issued a new cybersecurity EO that overturns part of an earlier Biden-era order. As always with most Executive Orders, and particularly those that are hyper-technical, the final application will depend on the details as promulgated by the agencies, but with a topic as encompassing as cybersecurity, it’s important to be aware of.

CONGRESS:

With Congress back in town, the Senate began its effort to shape the Reconciliation conversation. With an ambitious timeline of getting a bill done by July 4^th, there’s not a lot of time for Senate President John Thune to navigate the ongoing conservative vs. moderate debate about what and where to cut. Senate leaders are operating under the assumption that they will have at least two defectors, leaving little wiggle room as they figure out how to craft their own version of the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” that will then pass the House. In a sign of how difficult the conversation has become, several Republican Senators, and the President himself, are willing to explore Medicare cuts, potentially via the Medicare Advantage program, as a way to find funding. Throw a feud with Elon Musk into the mix and we’re gearing up for a hectic three weeks in DC between now and the self-imposed July 4^th deadline. Elsewhere in DC:

• • One early victim of the Senate’s process? The 10-year moratorium on state AI regulation has been removed from an early draft of the bill. In its place, is a new requirement that states that want a piece of $500 million allocated for AI development agree to pause any new AI regulation. Motivating the effort was the claim of several House members, including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, that they hadn’t read the regulation and didn’t realize what they were voting for.

• • It’s important to note that it isn’t just SNF’s that are impacted by a freeze on provider taxes. The Wisconsin Hospital Association sent an open letter to Senator Ron Johnson, one of the most vocal opponents of the big, beautiful bill for not cutting enough, advocating that savings be found elsewhere. The letter is available here (PDF).

• • That didn’t take long. Ads are coming to Iowa, Maine, and North Carolina where vulnerable Republican Senators will weigh in on Reconciliation.

• • NY Congresswoman Elise Stefanik finally has a home back on the House Intelligence committee, ending several months of speculation after the President withdrew her nomination to be the US Ambassadors to the UN.

• • Two useful CRS reports from the week:

• • LSB11319.1: A guide on the legal issues facing the President’s Executive Order that looked to grant “Most Favored Nation” drug pricing for Americans.

• • R48555: An updated guide to the different approaches, both international and in the US, to regulating AI.

CONGRESS:

In addition to the RFI on Regulation due next week mentioned above, CMS also has a RFI out on how to better use technology to help Medicare Beneficiaries. That RFI is due on June 16^th. To further that effort, CMS hosted several stakeholders this week to discuss how to start building a better health tech infrastructure.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• • In a sign of the political pressure that MA plans are feeling, Humana told Congressional staff that they are planning new limits on their billing practices.

• • Louisiana is the latest state to explore PBM regulation at the state level, as a new bill cleared a state Senate panel.

• • The Louisiana legislature also sent a tort reform bill to the Governor that would caps damages on lawsuits against healthcare providers.

• • A new study published in HealthAffairs highlighted just how damaging MA claim denials are to providers.

• • Even as Florida might be making progress on finally getting their budget across the finish line, it’s been a rough year for the Governor.

• • Minnesota is extending its legislative session to get a budget done.

• • An op-ed in JAMA argues that too much of the discussion in DC centers on cuts to federal healthcare programs, as opposed to exploring the commercial insurance market and ways to contain costs on that side.

• • As part of his budget proposal California Governor proposed delaying, again, the state’s generator requirement on SNF’s.

• • A good look from the Kaiser Family Foundation on how the Administration is reshaping the healthcare agencies governing the American healthcare system.