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WHITE HOUSE:

The White House focused this week on more regulatory relief for companies, this time focused on steel production, easing tariffs on Brazil, signing the Epstein transparency bill, and a new partnership with Saudi Arabia. One item of interest:

·         As of time of this writing, details are still scarce, but the President is expected to announce a health care plan to solve the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. As with all things healthcare, every bill can have significant impact, both intended and unintended, and this is something to monitor.

CONGRESS:

With the clock already ticking for the next government funding deadline of January 30^th, Congress’ top appropriators got together to begin the conversation. As expected, talks are off to a slow start while the debate on how to deal with the expiring healthcare subsidies of the Affordable Care Act consumes much of the air on Capitol Hill. A pair of early bipartisan bills were introduced that would address the problem, but it’s early going and Republicans remain conflicted about how to best proceed. With the President expected to weigh in tomorrow (as mentioned above), there’s some room for optimism moving forward. Elsewhere in the political sphere:

·         Congress is finally starting to push back on the White House as Republicans are showing some resistance to some of the President’s asks. It’s forced the White House to start making amends behind the scenes. Taken all together, it’s gonna make it a harder for Republicans to try to pass another Reconciliation bill.

·         The White House hasn’t given up hope on getting a federal moratorium on state AI regulations passed by Congress, eyeing the upcoming must-pass annual defense bill, although Congressional members are lukewarm to the idea. Meanwhile, it’s still just a rumor at this point, but reports are circulating that the White House wants to issue a new set of Executive Orders to bar state based AI regulation.

·         After a court order blocked the Texas redistricting effort (although the Supreme Court is taking a look), and Indiana decided not to redistrict, the entire push to redistrict is leaving Republicans frustrated.

·         The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the rising cost of American healthcare. During the hearing, Chairman Mike Crapo said he’s planning on reintroducing PBM legislation.

·         NJ Governor-Elect Mikie Sherill formally resigned from her Congressional seat and the state has set April 16^th for the special election to replace her.  

·         Two more high-profile Congressional resignation announcements this week, one from each party: Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and New York Democrat Nydia Velazquez.

·         The recent strong showing by Democrats in NJ and VA has given them confidence to the point they’re spending more than $1 million in a deep-red Tennessee special election.

·         The President met with New York’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, in an eagerly anticipated get together.

·         Two California Democrats sent a letter to the Department of Labor asking the Department to investigate and address the rising denials of health insurance claims. The letter is here (PDF).

·         A new super PAC, focused solely on AI, is going after a New York Congressional candidate that introduced and helped pass the RAISE Act, a NY state based bill that regulates AI. The bill is still waiting for the Governor’s signature.

·         One helpful CRS report from the week. We often refer to the Continuing Resolution process as a way that Congress uses to fund the government. The CRS issued a guide to Congress on full-year continuing resolutions.

AGENCIES:

CMS issued the final Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule, using it as an opportunity to modernize the healthcare delivery system. The fact sheet is here.  The final rule is scheduled to be published to the Federal Register on November 25^th, but if you can’t wait, you can download a copy of the 1,657 page final rule here (PDF).

One key part of the final rule was a set of changes to the Hospital Price Transparency requirements. The fact sheet is here.

 CMS also issued the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) final rule. The full was published to the Federal Register.

HHS announced a new $2 million AI innovation program to support caregivers.  The competition is being run by the Administration for Community Living (ACL). Full details are here.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a new proposed rule that would allow immigration officers to deny permanent residency to lawful immigrants that use Medicaid and other government benefits.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

·         Ohio passed a “budget corrections” bill to counter the state’s recent loss of a court case related to how they calculate Medicaid rates for SNF’s. You can read the full HB184 here, but the net effect is a change to how the state will calculate Medicaid rates for SNF’s moving forward.

·         Recognizing the difficult budget situation that California finds itself in, a wide range of policy wonks formed a new coalition called “The Future of Medi-Cal Commission”.

·         NJ Governor Elect Mikie Sherrill named her transition policy teams.

·         United Healthcare Care is ending reimbursement (PDF) for Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM). Here’s a breakdown of the policy change.

·         Humana & Epic are rolling out a new data-sharing initiative to automate patient check-in and insurance verification.

·         With state legislative sessions around the corner, NCSL updated their special report on what’s coming up in state capitals around the country.