Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July!

WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on responding to the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action, driving investment in underserved communities (full policy memo available here as a PDF), updating the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism, and providing new investment for small businesses in tribal communities. Two items of interest to us:

• They announced new federal actions to address veteran homelessness, including more than $3 billion in funding to help rehouse veterans and provide job training through the Department of Labor’s Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) program. If you are interested in working with the DOL on hiring or training veterans, more information for employers, including contact info for each state, is available here.

• They announced $42.5 billion in funding for high-speed internet rollout. The full breakdown of allocations, broken down by state, is available here. As many of your staff and residents, particularly in rural areas, will benefit from access to stable, high-speed internet, they may appreciate hearing about this from you. They can find more information at the GetInternet.gov website.

CONGRESS:

With Congress on a two-week break for the July 4^th Holiday weekend, it was quiet on the Hill. Much of the conversation centered around the ongoing struggle for Leader McCarthy in keeping the conservative flank of the party on board with broader GOP objectives. For our purposes, this is the context for the debt spending discussion and public posturing that will dominate the discussion over the coming months until crunch time. Elsewhere in the political world:

• With state legislative sessions coming to an end, the National Conference of State Legislatures has an invaluable resource to track healthcare related legislation at the state level that passed in the recent legislative cycles. The database is updated every other week.

• Adding to the Congressional pressure in the upcoming debt spending fight is a recent report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the long-term budget outlook.

• Continuing his public opposition to the minimum staffing rule, Senator John Tester wrote a letter to the head of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reiterating that a one-size fits all mandate is untenable. The letter is available here (PDF).

• An interesting wrinkle to the entire discussion on federal regulation and AI: the House’s Chief Administrative Officer set limits on how Congressional offices can use ChatGPT.

• We discussed candidate quality at length leading up to the 2022 Midterms. The issue appears to be raising its head again. One early example? Montana, where the GOP primary is heating up.

• A look back a six months of divided government.

• Finally, with state legislatures increasingly being dominated by a single party, Politico explored the lives of the minority party in those states.

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

• R46797: An updated version of their Congressional guide to federal Medicare payment systems and rules.

• R47605: A guide to Congressional offices on resources for older constituents that reach out to Congressional offices.

AGENCIES:

CMS issued a QSO outlining a new dataset on SNF ownership and affiliate entities that they will be making publicly available. You can access the QSO here (PDF). The dataset is available at the central CMS Data site.

Despite the lawsuits from a variety of pharmaceutical companies and groups, CMS continues to move forward on the Medicare Drug Negotiation Program. Here is the updated fact sheet and revised guidance (both PDF). All information related to the program is available at their central resource page.

As of July 1^st, folks on Medicare Part D will have their insulin costs capped at $35. CMS created a central resource page with more information.

CMS released two new 2024 proposed payment rules:

• End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) for dialysis patients: The announcement is here. The proposed rule is available at the Federal Register, where comments can be submitted through August 25^th.

• Home Health Agencies: The fact sheet is here. The proposed rule will be published to the Federal Register on July 10^th, at which point comments can be submitted for 60 days. You can download a copy of the proposed rule here (PDF).

The OIG at HHS released their final rule related to information blocking, required under the CURES Act. The 130 page final rule can be downloaded here (PDF). A guide to information blocking, and to whom it applies, is available here.

Value based care and tying incentive payments to quality care has become a hot topic at the state and federal levels. NCSL has a useful basic explainer here.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) urged CMS to institute better oversight over Medicaid programs, particularly with managed care plans. The summary is available here and the full report here (both PDF).

The Federal Trade Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) banning fake reviews and testimonials in online marketing. You can find a copy of the proposed rule here (PDF). Please share with your legal advisors to see if it impacts your marketing.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• Kudos to Canada for continuing their forward thinking when it comes to the healthcare staffing shortage and immigration. They launched a new policy that will fast track immigration applications for healthcare related workers. Contrast that with the US approach, where the green card freeze is holding up foreign nurses.

• The state of Ohio finalized their budget, which will be sent to the Governor for signature.

• After several delays, Washington state’s long term care insurance program started on July 1^st.

• The Washington Post had an update on Medicaid unwinding and which states are extending the renewal process. Minnesota has since joined the club.

• ProPublica did a deep dive into denials of care by MA plans and how little information related to the problem is collected.

• While private equity is often painted in a negative light by policy makers, Health Affairs published a blog highlighting how essential private investment is to an expansive health care system.

• The Kaiser Family Foundation published a useful summary of the basics of Medicaid. They also released a series of state-based fact sheets with an overview of the Medicaid populations in each state. This can be useful for forecasting demographic information.

Registration for the 2023 Zimmet Conference at Mohegan Sun from August 9^th – 10^th is now open! The topic this year is “Roaring Reimbursement”. You can find more information and register at the conference site.

Questions? Email us at support@myzpax.com.

z-INTEL WhatsApp info:

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