WHITE HOUSE:

Over the last week, the White House focused on working to end the Iranian nuclear threat, President’s State of the Union address (the longest in history), and a new promotional effort by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to combat fentanyl.

CONGRESS:

A week later and we find ourselves in pretty much the same spot: at an impasse in the fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. FEMA, one of the agencies caught in the funding showdown, sent out more than $5 billion last week for disaster funding, and is running low on funds, adding some political pressure. Still, despite a new offer from the White House to Senate Democrats, and Republicans pointing to the situation in Iran as a need to prioritize DHS funding, little progress has been made in finding a path forward. So for now, we wait. Elsewhere in the political world:

• While the President touched on a lot of different topics during the SOTU, his actual to-do wish list for Congress was relatively sparse. One item that he did focus on was getting Congress to codify the drug pricing laws the Administration has pursued, an effort that Congress is feeling lukewarm about, despite their popularity.
  
  

• For the first time in 3 years, Congressional Appropriators in the House opened up the possibility of earmarks, but for a very specific area: “community project funding” under HRSA’s budget, which is typically used for rural hospitals.
  
  

• Senate Democrats introduced the “American Homeownership Act”, a new bill to end corporate ownership of private homes. The bill follows on the heels of the President’s Executive Order in January that had similar goals.
  
  

• It’s opening week of primary season, with Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas, all scheduled for Tuesday. The Texas race, in particular, has attracted national attention as the most expensive ever, and is being looked at as a potential bellwether for where voters stand on the direction of the parties. Notably, the President has not endorsed any of the Republican candidates.
  
  

• Democrats are thinking about their Legislative priorities, should they take back the House in November, as Republicans struggle to figure out how to legislate over the next few months.
  
  

• The Pennsylvania Legislature will remain divided, as Democrats won a pair of special elections.
  
  

• One useful CRS report from the week: an updated guide for Congressional offices on resources available to help constituents with information related to governmental health resources.
  
  

AGENCIES:

CMS announced a new effort to tackle fraud in federal healthcare programs, with a specific focus on Minnesota healthcare programs, although not anything related to SNFs, a six-month moratorium on new enrollment in Medicare for DME suppliers, and the ‘CRUSH” initiative (Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare), a RFI to get the public involved in detecting waste. Responses to the RFI can be submitted at the Federal Register through March 30th.

The FDA issued draft guidance on the accelerated program for new individualized therapies for rare diseases. The draft guidance can be found at the central resource page, where comments can be submitted through April 27th.

FROM THE NOTEBOOK:

• As New York enters the stretch run for budget conversations, there’s a strong push to make sure that SNFs are part of the conversation.
  
  

• Virginia is also in the final stages of budget negotiations, with the House and Senate offering different proposals as they get started on finalizing the budget.
  
  

• Canada is warning AI companies to get better at safety, or they’re gonna join the regulatory bandwagon.
  
  

• A deep dive into the Medicare Advantage landscape shows a declining enrollment, as plans continue to exit markets.