WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on an update to the “American Climate Corps”, support for the auto supplies industry, and a new Executive Order on gun violence. Two items of interest for us:

• With Hurricane Helene bearing down, they held a press conference with FEMA to discuss their response and preparations for the hurricane. To that end, if you have facilities in affected areas, FEMA’s central resource page is here. The CRS also published a guide (PDF) on FEMA resources.

• Continuing the theme of their efforts to figure out an appropriate path to government regulation of AI, they announced a new partnership with the United Arab Emirates on cooperation in the development of AI. It’s yet another data point in how they are approaching AI regulation.

CONGRESS:

And that’s a wrap. As we predicted weeks ago, Congress passed, and the President signed, a “clean” government funding bill that will keep the government open till mid-December. Notably, and again as we’ve discussed earlier, GOP Speaker Mike Johnson needed significant Democratic support to pass the funding bill. Of course, all this does is kick the can to mid-December, post-election, when the political dynamics may have changed. Speaker Johnson is already doing what he can to get the GOP in line, promising that there won’t be another extension, but for now, things are as stable as they ever get in DC. Elsewhere in the political world:

• Hill staffers are the unsung folk that keep Capitol Hill chugging along and shape policy behind the scenes. To that end, a fascinating read on 25 of the most impactful staffers.

• With Congress basically done till the election, GOP Congressional members are heading home to campaign with legislative accomplishments that don’t always resonate with their constituents.

• A good look at the mostly productive relationship between GOP Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Assuming that Johnson keeps his Speakership after the December funding battle, that relationship will be key to how Congress navigates the next few years.

• With Montana Senator Jon Tester’s race continuing to look bleak for Democrats, and Republicans are increasingly optimistic that a 52 seat Senate majority is in play, Democrats are targeting Florida and Texas as potential seats that they can pick up. Meanwhile, they’re spending a ton on down ballot races at the state level.

• Two useful CRS reports from the week:

• R47682: an updated guide on the legal challenges currently being litigated against the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program. As many of the drugs chosen for the program are heavily utilized by SNF residents and filled by long-term care pharmacies, it’s important to understand the landscape.

• R48191: a guide to Congressional offices on how to help connect their constituents with government healthcare programs. This is a useful tool to understand the scope of government programs.

AGENCIES:

CMS issued a notice that all SNF providers will receive provider revalidation notices to be covered in a new appendix to the 855A form (PDF). They also released a guide (PDF) to the new information that needs to be submitted on the 855A CHOW form. AHCA has a good guide to the new rules. You should also consult with your attorneys

As they do before every election, CMS issued a new QSO reminding facilities of the need to protect residents’ right to vote. You can access a copy here.

With a state of emergency declared in Florida and Georgia for the Hurricane, CMS issued a guide to waivers available to providers in the states.

CMS announced that premiums for beneficiaries on MA plans and for Medicare Part D participants will remain stable in 2025. A Fact Sheet on all the financial information is available here. They also issued a state-by-state guide, available here (PDF). More detailed information on the Part D benefits are available at CMS’ central resource page.

CMS issued a final rule on targeting suspicious billing in the Medicare Shared Savings program. It’s available at the Federal Register.

With the unwinding in the rearview mirror, CMS sent out a notice to states that December 2026 is the deadline for state Medicaid programs to get back in compliance with federal requirements. It’s available here (PDF).

HHS, via HRSA, announced the award of $75 million to help rural healthcare. The funding is mostly targeted at mental health and rural hospitals. A full list of awardees can be found here.

HHS, via ARPA-H, announced an investment, of up to $27 million, to facilitate the use of generative AI to develop new antibiotics. A list of awardees can be found here.

A little off the beaten track, but many of you are involved in emergency medical services. Congress reauthorized funding for the SIREN program, a program designed to provide funding to rural emergency medical response teams. Organizations can apply for grants at SAMHSA’s Siren page.

The OIG at HHS performed an audit on Medicare’s coverage of Remote Patient Monitoring, finding that CMS’ oversight of providers is lacking. Here is the summary (PDF) and the full report (PDF).

As the use of AI in hiring becomes more prevalent, the Department of Labor issued a new framework on its usage to support more inclusivity in the hiring process. The framework is available here.

USCIS announced that they’ve already hit their cap for H-2b visas for 2025. McKnight’s has a good summary.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• A new antitrust lawsuit was filed (PDF) against Epic, accusing the company of misusing its monopoly to muscle out smaller EHR companies. Fierce Healthcare has a good summary. As the government requires more data sharing among healthcare companies, these suits have the potential of shaping the data marketplace.

• Speaking of EHR systems, an internal VA audit (PDF) found that the VA’s rollout of their new EHR system was plagued by more than 800 ‘major’ incidents. Federal News Network has a good summary of the report.

• A long read from NPR on the burnout and PTSD facing nursing aides following the Covid years.

• HealthAffairs published a new analysis of how hospitals are deploying AI in healthcare settings. You can download a copy here (PDF).

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