ELECTION RECAP:

What an election! Beyond the obvious red wave that came with President-Elect Trump sweeping the seven swing states, the GOP picked up at least 3 seats in the Senate (as of the time of this writing). The House remains too close to call, but Republicans are expected to take control of that too. Overall, it all adds up to a fired up GOP.

Another notable race that directly impacts the long-term sector: PA Senator Bob Casey, a primary architect of much of the legislation regulating SNF’s, was projected to lose his seat to Republican Dave McCormick, although Casey hasn’t yet conceded.

One big thing to watch is the race for Senate GOP leader to replace Senator Mitch McConnell, which will take place on Wednesday. For now, the favorite is Senator John Thune of SD, although Senator Rick Scott of Florida is making a late push.

Quite a few other post-election items:

• An early look at names that are being floated for positions in the new Administration. The Wall Street Journal also took a shot at it.

• While voters overwhelmingly supported the GOP, there were several weird outcomes at the state level with red states voting for progressive policies and blue states supporting traditionally conservative goals. For example, Missouri approved a $15 hour minimum wage while California supported a tough-on-crime bill.

• House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R – LA) sent out a letter, available here (PDF), outlining the agenda for the first 100 days of next year’s Congress. With the GOP control of Congress, he focuses heavily on the procedural tools (such as reconciliation) that can be utilized to enact items that would otherwise be difficult to pass. Politico also did a deep dive into the potential agenda.

• The President-Elect picked Susie Wiles to serve as his Chief of Staff, the first woman to hold the role.

• With the GOP expected to be solidly in control post-January, it changes the calculus for the government funding bill that needs to get done during lame duck, with the likelihood being that the GOP will try to punt the decision to after January.

• Even with full control of Congress, it will be difficult for the GOP to get things done legislatively, as the internal deep divides remain in place.

• A look at the outcome of the ballot initiatives on the ballot this past week. A big loser was marijuana legalization efforts which failed in several states. The NCSL has a database with a much deeper breakdown.

• Following the Democratic wipeout, Axios examined where the party stands and just how badly they lost, even as the internal blame game is underway.

• McKnight’s put together a reaction column to the election and what it means for SNF’s.

• Roll Call took a look at health care priorities for the new Republican and Democratic Senators. They also highlighted the short list of those in contention for health posts in the new Administration.

• With the knowledge that the federal government is now solidly Republican, Governor Gavin Newsom of California is calling a special session to protect “California values”.

• With the rightward shift of the electorate, moderate Congressional members that can bridge the gap and be deal makers are more important than ever. A look at one potential new member: Utah Senator-elect John Curtis.

• The Washington Post did a post-mortem on some of the shocking stats from the election.

• Now that Ohio Senator JD Vance has a new job, the search for his replacement is underway. Here are some of the names that have been floated.

AGENCIES:

With the election dominating the scene it was a very quiet week in DC. A few items from the agencies:

CMS announced that they are delaying the mandatory provider revalidation until May 1^st, 2025, for all SNF’s. The updated guidance is available here (PDF).

The OIG at HHS released a “final assessment” of the national background check program for long-term care providers. The summary is here (PDF). The full report is here (PDF).

The OIG at HHS did an audit on the hospital price transparency rules that finding that more than 30% of the selected hospitals didn’t comply with the requirements. The summary is here (PDF). The full report is here (PDF).

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• The Kaiser Family Foundation analyzed what administrative moves the new Administration can do to impact the Medicaid program. These are legislative tools that an Administration can do without Congressional approval. They also explored what the election win means for social safety net programs.

• Despite yet another government audit from the OIG that MA plans are using questionable billing practices to drive up costs, CMS continues to resist the need to make changes to oversight of MA.

• A ballot initiative that would have ended Washington state’s long term care coverage program failed, keeping intact the program that requires contribution into the LTC fund for folks who live in the state.

• A HealthAffairs study found that MA plans increasingly have a high number of veterans and guess what? It’s yet another example of more wasteful spending on Medicare Advantage.

• Optum is scaling back their I-SNP plans in several regions.

• JAMA published a study that showed no correlation between telehealth and low-value care.

• Fierce Healthcare explored what the new landscape for MA plans under the new Administration may look like.

• A good read (free registration required) on the downward spiral affecting many Medicare Advantage stocks.