WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on strengthening the mineral supply chain, additional investments in Historically Black Colleges & Universities(HCBU), and building a global development strategy (full PDF guide here). Two items of interest for us:

• They announced new actions to support economic security for women, including awarding more than $200 million via the Department of Labor to assist older individuals who are looking to re-enter the workforce via the “Senior Community Service Employment Program”, a program designed to help seniors find workforce opportunities.

• Recognizing the severe damage that extreme heat causes, they held their first summit on extreme heat and launched a new call to action (PDF) outlining efforts and public-private partnerships that they’re taking to help communities in affected areas. Especially if you’re located in regions where extreme heat can cause problems, it’s worth exploring to see if there are opportunities to help facilities during heat events.

CONGRESS:

Following yet another defeat for a stopgap funding bill that including a voting rights component, progress is finally starting, albeit slowly, on a clean bill that would, more or less, extend funding for the government till mid-December without any extraneous provisions in the bill. With the public posturing behind him, GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson appears headed to the obvious conclusion: a government shutdown is not going to be politically helpful as we close in on the election. As almost always happens with government funding in Congress: it takes time to get there, but ultimately the path of least resistance is where they end up. Elsewhere in the political world:

• Congress passed, and the President signed, a bill that shores up the VA funding shortfall that we’ve been tracking. Although the funding is mainly for veteran’s benefits, it’s a sign of how seriously Congress tackles issues facing veterans and making sure that they are taken care of. Having said that, this is simply a short-term funding that plugs the immediate need of $3 billion or so but doesn’t address the anticipated $12 billion shortage for next year.

• California Governor Gavin Newsom signed several AI bills, including those protecting actors and individuals from deepfakes. However, as of the time of this writing, he continues to hold off on signing SB 1047, the most impactful legislation related to AI and which would have a significant impact on those involved in developing and utilizing AI tools.

• The Energy & Commerce Committee advanced a suite of nearly 15 healthcare related bills for a vote to the full house. McKnight’s has a good summary.

• Even as we are less than 50 days from the election, there are still changes being made to how Americans vote, including one in Nebraska that would significantly alter the calculus needed to get to 270 electoral votes.

• Over the last few election cycles, we’ve pointed out the age of many of the leading politicians in the country. Quietly, the next generation of potential leaders are starting to make their move.

• Two useful CRS reports from the week (links are to the PDF):

• LSB11227: A guide to the practical impact of the federal government reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug.

• LSB11229: A guide for Congress on SEC vs. Jarkesy, one of the recent Supreme Court decisions that can have a big impact on the administrative state and enforcement.

AGENCIES:

HHS, via HRSA, announced the award of more than $100 million to strengthen the healthcare workforce, including nearly $20 million specifically meant to grow the long-term care workforce. A full list of awardees can be found here.

The FTC announced an administrative lawsuit against three of the largest PBM’s in the country (Caremark, Express Scripts, & Optum), specifically related to their insulin pricing.

CMS released a final rule on for the Medicaid Drug Pricing Rebate program (MDRP). This is mostly technical rules that govern manufacturers. The final rule will be published to the Federal Register on September 26^th, but in the meantime, if you’re in the mood for some riveting reading, you can access a prepublication copy of the 218 page rule here (PDF).

HHS, via the Indian Health Services (IHS), awarded more than $1.2 million to help several tribes better integrate dementia care into their healthcare delivery systems.

HHS, via the Administration for Community Living (ACL), provided an update to Congress on their progress in implementing the National Strategy to Support Caregivers. The report can be accessed here (PDF).

HHS, via the office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, announced the award of nearly $2 million through the LEAP IT program, with a specific focus on developing more useful AI tools in clinical settings.

Way back in 2020, CMS activated their accelerated and advanced payments program to help providers impacted by Covid. The OIG did an analysis of the program and found that providers paid back the payments, as per the terms of the program. The full report is here while the summary is here (both PDF).

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• The Kaiser Family Foundation released a new analysis of Medicaid now that the pandemic era rules are mostly over, finding that nearly 25 million people were unenrolled, although enrollment remains 10 million higher than before Covid. The full report is here.

• The University of Washington’s Center for Healthcare Workforce Studies released a new study on staffing trends among non-nursing occupations at SNF’s. You can download a copy here (PDF). It’s a good insight into the breadth of the staffing shortage.

• An interesting study, albeit one with a smallish sample size, was published in the Journal of Geriatric Nursing, on how SNF staff respond to non-monetary benefits and compensation.

• JAMA published a study on how a 5 hour “Well Being Essentials” webinar can improve healthcare workforce emotional outcomes.

• A good look at a high school program designed to give folks an early edge on careers in nursing.

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