WHITE HOUSE:

In the final week of his Administration, the President crammed in quite a few last minute items, including his final address to the nation, the ceasefire in Israel, the release of $100 million, via HUD, to facilitate the growth of affordable housing (full list of recipients is available here as a PDF), a recap of the Administration’s record, creating new resources to help schools with active shooter drills, dealing with “left-behind” communities, crafting a new “resilience strategy” (PDF) for the country, recapping their efforts to stem human trafficking, supporting children of service members with disabilities, recapping their efforts on the “Cancer Moonshot”, highlighting their work on the American food supply chain, issuing one more final rule to protect US vehicles from international interference, and issuing a report on the Administration’s Pandemic Preparedness Response. 3 items of interest for us:

• • The President issued one last Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence designed to control the supply chain of the chips needed for AI growth, which are a key component to the software growth of AI. The full EO is here. While this is more for the large companies involved in AI growth, it does control the sale of chips to companies in Israel.

• • They issued a final report on the President’s Investing in America agenda, available here (PDF), outlining the vast investments that the Administration made following the pandemic. Totaling more than $700 billion in agencies and more than $1 trillion in private sector investments, the program transformed vast elements of the economy. The report is a good summary of everything that was done since the law’s passage.

• • The President issued an Executive Order to strengthen national cybersecurity and invest in resources to help companies protect against cyberattacks. The full EO is here. As an industry that is often the target of ransomware and other cyber threats, this is an important trend to monitor.

CONGRESS:

With Congress settled in, the real work of governing has started. Beginning with a week of confirmation hearings, the focus in DC is now on governing for the new Administration. The big-ticket item, of course, remains government funding and how to find enough savings to pass all the new Administration’s desired tax cuts and pay for border security. House Republicans circulated a “menu” last week of the many different areas where savings can potentially be found as well as the cost of the programs they might want to create. The party line Reconciliation tool that the Republicans will use has a lot of moving parts and will be a “tough lift”, but the Speaker is gunning to get the initial stages done by the end of February. With many more confirmations to get through and a challenging political dynamic to navigate, it’s going to be a tight sprint in DC in the coming months. Elsewhere in the political world:

• • It’s important to remember that should the GOP make cuts to federal healthcare programs; it’s going to put state budgets in a bind. Axios explored the implications for many states and the paths that different states will take.

• • The leadership team being put in place for CMS under the new Administration is being formed.

• • It looks like Vivek Ramaswamy is going to be leaving DOGE, letting Elon Musk run it alone. The news comes as Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio chose Lt. Gov John Husted to serve as the state’s replacement Senator and Ramaswamy announcing a gubernatorial run.

• • While there’s a lot of political theater involved, confirmation hearings are an involved process that require a significant amount of Congressional time and can limit the amount of time available for other political goals.

• • Adding to the complexity around the funding fight is the fact that the Treasury will, once again, be implementing “extraordinary measures” to help the government continue to operate in light of the federal debt. While this has happened before, it highlights the ongoing fiscal challenges within which the government funding conversations will take place.

• • In an update of a report originally published in the final days of the first Trump Administration, the CRS looked at the practice of an outgoing Administration issuing rules in the waning days of the Presidency, a practice known as “Midnight Rulemaking”. The report is here (PDF).

• • The CRS also did a deep dive into the No Surprises Act and the financial impact it had. It’s available here (PDF).

AGENCIES:

HHS announced another round of 15 drugs selected for participation in the Medicare drug pricing negotiation program for drugs covered under Medicare Part D. The full list is available here (PDF). More details are available here at CMS’ central Medicare Drug Price Negotiation page.

We’ve mentioned the $2,000 out of pocket cap for Medicare Part D beneficiaries that went into effect on January 1^st. HHS did an analysis of the impact that the cap will have on beneficiaries. It’s available here (PDF).

The FTC released another report going after PBM’s, finding that the presence of PBM’s caused a marked increase in prescription drug costs. The report is available here (PDF). Healthcare Dive has a good breakdown of the report.

The lawsuit against the minimum staffing rule by 20 states was rejected by a federal judge, although the main suit continues.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• • Another public poll confirmed that Medicaid spending remains politically popular, even as it continues to be a prime target in the federal hunt for savings.

• • A look at the new health care laws taking effect in California this year.

• • Together with NPR, Kaiser Health News looked at the growing trend of homeless seniors.

• • In UnitedHealth’s first earnings call since the public murder of its CEO, they pledged to do more to reduce the usage of prior authorization.

• • Pew Trusts did a five part analysis of state fiscal issues to keep an eye on. Here’s the sections on the fiscal climate and AI.