The White House focused this week on making beef more affordable (by increasing the tariff-free quota for imports)  new plan to prioritize the United States in arms deals, continue to pressure Iran, and opening up commercial fishing in the Atlantic. One item of interest:

·         After several delays, they finally launched the new direct-to-consumer website for pharmaceutical drugs at TrumpRX.gov. As of launch time, 43 separate drugs are available at discounted rates, although they are working on getting more. This is all part of the administration’s efforts to lower drug costs.

After all the back and forth drama over the DHS funding bill, as well as a brief government shutdown, Congress finalized 11 of the other 12 spending bills needed. For the most part, the government is now funded through September 30^th of this year. The lone exception is the DHS/ICE funding bill, where Republicans and Democrats remain far apart in finding a path forward, with most expecting a partial government shutdown that affects agencies covered in the bill. For the most part, these sections of government don’t impact healthcare, but with agencies such as FEMA, TSA, and the CBP, affected, even a partial shutdown has a meaningful effect on daily life. As is often the case when Congress can’t find a middle ground, a Continuing Resolution (which essentially kicks the can down the road) is the likeliest outcome for now. Still, with the bulk of the government funded, things in DC are mostly calm. Elsewhere in the political world:

·         While the funding bill is most notable for actually, y’know, funding the government, quite a few healthcare provisions found their way into the bill, including new rules on PBM’s and extending several waivers related to telehealth flexibility, among others. Here’s a good summary of the healthcare provisions.

·         We’ve talked a lot about redistricting over the last several months, but in the end it’s all going to boil down to actual elections. Axios put together a calculator to see how Congress’ makeup will shake out depending on how each party performs in the elections.

·         We often talk about money in politics, but it’s important to realize that funding only carries you so far, a lesson underscored again this week in the NJ Congressional race to fill Mikie Sherill’s seat.

·         Despite the recent missteps by the President in navigating his flagging political popularity, with more and more Republicans retiring, most of his critics within the Republican party are on their way out.

·         One useful CRS report from the week: with all the discussion in DC centered on federal changes to Marijuana scheduling, the CRS updated their legal guide to tax code deductions related to Marijuana.  

CMS published their 2026 ACO participation highlights, including a fact sheet (PDF).

Following up on last week’s Executive Order to focus on treatment in addiction, HHS announced a new $100 million initiative called STREETS, the “Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Supports”. 

At the same press conference, HHS also announced a new $10 million grant program for Assisted Outpatient Treatment for adults with mental health illnesses.

For now, specific details on both programs are sparse, but more details are expected soon.

HHS’ SAMHSA announced the latest distribution of nearly $800 million for block grant funding to states and territories for mental health services and substance abuse treatment.

HHS’ Administration for Community Living (ACL) launched phase 1 of their new “Caregiver AI Prize Competition”, a national challenge to get folks to develop practical uses of AI to help support caregivers. The central resource page with details is here.

The FTC settled their lawsuit with Cigna’s Express Scripts related to their PBM practices. As a condition of settlement, the FTC secured changes to the program to increase transparency from the PBM.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

·         Molina is stopping to offer any MA plans with prescription drug coverage, following underperformance in the market.

·         The Kaiser Family Foundation released their latest deep dive into MA plans usage of prior authorization, finding that there were nearly 53 million PA requests in 2024…

·         A new op-ed from the founders of the Medicare Advantage program look at how the program has lost its way.

·         Optum announced the launch of two new AI tools to help with Prior Authorization. Fierce Healthcare has the breakdown.

·         A new study in JAMDA looked at the pattern of post-discharge appeals related to length of stay at a single SNF. McKnight’s has a good summary.

·         Florida put together a new dashboard with a breakdown of SNF’s in the state.