WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on a new investment of more than $7 billion for clean energy in rural communities, new actions to support schools, and the approval of more offshore wind projects. One item of interest for us:

• The President issued a new Executive Order, available here, that calls on federal agencies to adopt and implement standards that support labor standards, such as workplace safety, higher wages, and a pathway to joining a union. While geared towards federal agencies and the grant programs they administer, the goal is to promote policies that lead to more union involvement and participation, something that this Administration has consistently pushed for.

CONGRESS:

With Congress set to return this week, the quiet summer is over as we steam into a government funding battle. The first salvo has been fired by conservative Republicans, with an initial proposal (PDF) that ties voting legislation to government funding. The plan led to immediate pushback from Senate Democratic leaders and caused consternation among Republicans in tight political races, who feel that a government shutdown would cost them in the upcoming elections. The latest funding battle highlights, yet again, the challenge that Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has in navigating the GOP. While the likeliest outcome remains a short-term government funding plan that carries us to either December or March, get ready for a lot of talk from DC on funding in the coming weeks. Elsewhere on the political front:

• With the next Presidential debate on the horizon, Axios explored what we know about the Vice President’s policy stances.

• Roll Call took a look at the changing electoral math for several battleground districts, including one in favor of Congressman Mike Lawler (R – NY).

• Republican fundraising for all races is severely trailing their Democratic counterparts.

• Politico examined all the non-budget related legislation on Congress’ plate for September.

• One interesting CRS report from the week: a look at how states are using “Prescription Drug Availability Boards” in an effort to drive down drug prices. You can access a copy here (PDF).

AGENCIES:

CMS put out a RFI asking for public input on potentially consolidating several of the current MAC jurisdictions, as well as extending the contracts. You can access a copy of the RFI here (PDF). For a breakdown on MAC’s and their roles, you can visit CMS’ central resource page on MAC’s.

CMS sent out notifications to nearly 950,000 Medicare beneficiaries that may have been impacted by a potential data breach attributable to MOVEIT, a 3^rd party software used by Wisconsin Physician Services.

ARPA-H announced a new funding opportunity for tools that can help ensure AI based medical tools do not degrade over time and continue to provide the services they are designed to. You can find more details about the program, called PRECISE-AI, here. The early draft of the solicitation can be found here.

HCANJ in New Jersey filed suit against the state of NJ for the state’s staffing mandate. For the legal crowd, you can access a copy of the suit here (PDF). McKnight’s also has a summary of the case.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• With the election just over 55 days away, the Kaiser Family Foundation provided a general overview of the implications for healthcare for each candidate, as well as more specific looks at Medicaid and potential ways each candidate might use the Medicaid 1115 waivers system.

• NORC at the University of Chicago, a research think tank, created the “Dementia DataHub”, the first national surveillance system to catalogue cases of dementia. The underlying data of how they define dementia can be found here. Axios has a good summary of the project and early data.

• McKnight’s reported on a win for a SNF in a Michigan lawsuit regarding a dispute with the NLRB in which the facility was required to bargain with union employees. You can access a copy of the ruling here (PDF).

• A new analysis by Mercer predicts that the healthcare workforce shortage will continue through at least 2028.

• The Arizona Health Care Association recruitment and retention program reported (PDF) on the success of their program, reporting that they exceeded their goal by nearly 50%! McKnight’s has a good summary.

• NPR looked at the complex challenges that specifically impact rural farmers in accessing long-term care.

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