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WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on commemorating one year since the train derailment in Ohio, awarding more than $500 million to boost economic growth in 10 regional hubs across the country, and following up on the decision to pause liquified natural gas exports. Two items of interest for us:

• 90 days following the President’s Executive Order on AI, they convened a gathering of federal agencies to track progress. The announcement is a useful resource to track the many different federal efforts to regulate and harness AI. They also put out a call to expand the federal workforce’ AI talent. All information can be found at the central federal hub for AI information: www.ai.gov

• On the 15^th anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (designed to prevent discriminatory compensation), they announced a series of administrative actions to further the Act. The actions are primarily designed to eliminate the usage of past pay as a factor in ascertaining appropriate federal employee salaries. The actions include a final rule from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), a new proposed rule by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR), and new guidance from the Department of Labor. While only federal agencies and contractors are covered by these rules, it’s a trend to monitor.

CONGRESS:

Against the ongoing backdrop of finding a path on government funding, the House accomplished a rarity in recent Congressional sessions: a bipartisan, impactful tax measure passed with overwhelming support. In fact, with a final vote tally of 357-70, the bill is causing recalcitrant Senators to think twice about opposing the bill. As expected, opposition came primarily from conservative Republicans, while more moderate Republicans got on board once they received assurances of a discussion related to SALT (State and Local Taxes) that heavily affects homeowners in high-tax states like New York and New Jersey. The bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate. In the meantime, the Senate is grappling with a border & supplemental bill that Speaker Johnson has publicly stated as “DOA” in the House. Of course, with the text yet to be released and Senate Leader Schumer hoping for a vote this week, it’s going to be another frantic week out of DC. Elsewhere in the political world:

• While the focus of politics is often on the inability of Congress to govern and pass legislation, it’s important to realize that Presidential administrations have many tools at their disposal to accomplish an agenda. That’s why we track executive orders, agency actions, and more. Politico has a weekend read on 30 different action items President Biden has undertaken as President with an outsized impact.

• Not often we get a peek behind the curtain, but quite the read here on former Speaker McCarthy’s campaign against the Conservatives who forced his ouster.

• The Committee on House Administration held a hearing on “AI: Innovations within the Legislative Branch”, which looked at Congressional usage of AI. As with all other regulatory efforts in AI, Members struggled with forming a coherent approach.

• With the first round of Medicare price drug negotiations underway (more below), the CRS updated their guide to one of the legal challenges being brought by pharmaceutical companies. It’s available here as a PDF.

AGENCIES:

Negotiations are underway for the first ten drugs selected in the Medicare Drug Price negotiation program. With the release, HHS put out two reports covering drug pricing and the impact the program will have on seniors. Despite the ongoing legal pushback, the White House is moving forward with the politically popular program. They also created a new central resource page to track all information related to the drug pricing provisions. The Wall Street Journal has a comprehensive summary of where we stand and what comes next. The Kaiser Family Foundation also put out a series of data briefs on the program.

HHS published a final rule to the Federal Register that makes permanent several telehealth flexibilities introduced for opioid treatment. The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) put out a press release to highlight the rule.

CMS released the proposed 2025 payment rule for Medicare Advantage and Part D programs. A fact sheet can be found here. The formal Advance Notice for the MA rates and underlying technical information is available at CMS’ MA advance notice page. For the changes to the Medicare Part D program, they issued a fact sheet (PDF) and guidance (PDF). More information on the Part D components is available at the CMS’ central resource page for the Inflation Reduction Act. HHS’ formal press release can be found here. Fierce Healthcare has a summary.

CMS released a new analysis of participation in ACO’s, showing that providers are continuing to join the initiative. The press release has a full set of resources and data links for those who want to find out more.

We've been tracking the Chevron legal case and the potential impact it can have on the ability of federal agencies, such as CMS, to issue regulations. The Washington Post has a more thorough summary on the case and the impact it can have on healthcare.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• Wisconsin created a new task force with a specific focus of helping the state tackle the workforce shortage. The primary efforts will focus on recruitment and retention.

• Massachusetts announced settlements with three staffing agencies accused of price gouging. Together with the news out of Iowa that a new state bill regulating staffing agencies is moving through the Legislature, it’s a welcome trend.

• Connecticut will become the first state that will cancel medical debt for residents, state-wide, using funding available from the federal American Rescue Plan.

• A good look at the political behind-the-scenes that led to North Carolina expanding Medicaid access.

• A look at how start-ups are tackling the many different opportunities within the US healthcare system.

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