WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on the Administration’s response to campus antisemitism, a planned collaboration with Microsoft to build a new AI datacenter in Wisconsin, and new funding for EV parts manufacturing. One item of indirect interest for us:

• They announced $5.5 billion for affordable housing development across the country. The funding will be distributed via HUD with the goal of increasing the supply of affordable rental housing and addressing homelessness. There may be opportunities to partner with local state housing agencies. More information is available at the HUD website. Local grantees can be found at the HUD Exchange. A full breakdown of municipal and state recipients can be downloaded here (Excel Spreadsheet).

CONGRESS:

After weeks of speculation, GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson easily defeated a challenge to his position by GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. While there was more than 40 votes to oust the Speaker, Johnson, with the help of Democrats, is safe for the time being. It’s fascinating to see the evolution of the Speaker from his role as an unknown into someone who received bipartisan support to stay in power and wants to continue as Speaker through the next Congress. With the unrest behind him (for now), and one of the last major pieces of “must-pass” legislation (FAA reauthorization) pretty much done, it’s shaping up to be a period of relative calm for Congress in the coming weeks. Elsewhere in the political world:

• At a markup hearing this week, the House Ways & Means Committee passed a bipartisan amendment that would allow SNF’s to continue in-house CNA training even if CMP’s exceed the current limit, as long as the CMP’s are unrelated to resident care. Skilled Nursing News has a good summary of the debate within the committee. There’s still a long way to go before it becomes law, but it’s an important step in the process. The one-page summary can be found here (PDF). The full text can be found here.

• During the same markup, the Committee passed legislation extending and expanding telehealth access. The one-page summary can be found here (PDF). The full text can be found here. Fierce Healthcare has a summary.

• The usual progressive suspects sent yet another round of requests to several SNF chains to explore funding at SNF’s.

• As we start to enter election season in earnest, the most vulnerable Senators are all on the Democrat side, leaving Republicans with an easier path to retake the Senate. Things are a little more even on the House side, with plenty of seats up for grabs.

• The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) voted Friday to issue a proposed rule that would block betting on elections. The Wall Street Journal has a good summary.

• One interesting CRS report from the week: an updated look at the litigation taking place between HHS, manufacturers, providers, and pharmacies on the 340B drug discount program. You can access it here (PDF).

AGENCIES:

HHS, via the Administration for Community Living (ACL), released the final rule of the first set of federal regulations governing Adult Protective Services. ACL’s central page for the regulations is here. The rule was published to the Federal Register on May 8^th and is effective as of June 7^th, 2024.

HHS, via SAMHSA, announced more than $46 million for behavioral health programs across the country.

The OIG at HHS performed an audit on how state agencies are pursuing manufacturing rebates for drugs that are administered by Medicaid, finding that states often do not properly invoice manufacturers for these rebates. The summary can be found here (PDF). The full report is available here (PDF).

For those so inclined, the Treasury released their annual social security and Medicare trustee reports this week. The fact sheet summary can be found here (PDF). The Medicare report can be downloaded here (PDF). The social security report gets its own website with underlying data and tables.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• With private equity in healthcare such a hot topic, CBC explored how Canada is approaching private equity in healthcare.

• Modern Healthcare did a deep dive into regulation of private equity at the state level.

• CNN reported how the long wait times are affecting seniors in emergency rooms, yet another sign of the real staffing shortages that exist everywhere in healthcare.

• It’s not just government agencies that have challenges with healthcare. Private companies are increasingly getting out of healthcare.

• Another healthcare system has been hit by a cyberattack; this time affecting Ascension Health.

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