23 December 2024 This Week in Health Policy for December 23 The 118th Congress is expected to adjourn after it passes a continuing resolution to address federal spending. The 119th Congress will begin on January 3, 2025, when members will be sworn in. This Week in Health Policy will resume publishing January 10, 2025, after the 119th Congress begins. House passes CR with narrow health package. On Friday (December 20), the House voted 366-34 to pass a short-term funding bill that keeps federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), open until March 14. The Senate is expected to soon take up the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), which President Biden has said he will sign. See the below chart for a list of the health care provisions included in the House-passed CR. A previous version of the CR that had been negotiated between Republican and Democratic House and Senate leadership contained a more robust health care package that would have reauthorized the SUPPORT Act, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act (PAHPA), and several programs impacting pediatric research, cancer screening, the wellbeing of the health care workforce, preterm birth and maternal mortality. That package also contained new transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), as well as provisions to bar PBMs from engaging in spread pricing in Medicaid and to de-link PBM renumeration from the price of covered Part D drugs. The package also contained language to update the drug patent system to address "patent thickets." In addition, the package contained funding to partially offset the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule cuts set to take effect in 2025 and extend advanced alternative payment models (APMs) bonus for the 2025 performance year. That package was derailed on Thursday after President-elect Donald Trump and some congressional Republicans came out against the package, pushing it to address the debt limit.
House passes other health care bills. This week, the House also voted to advance several health-related bills. Several bills including those related to autism education and research, controlled substances, and expanding veterans' access to home and community-based services will go to the president for his signature, while others related to health and wellness training, medical research, living donors, and more will go to the Senate. The bills headed to the Senate likely will need to be reintroduced in the next session. House Republicans continue activity for 119th Congress. This week, the House Republican Steering Committee announced new members of key health care committees for the 119th Congress. Democrats have not yet named new members to House committees. In the Senate, both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate still need to name new members. New House health committee members are:
Rep. Carter to chair Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. On Friday (December 20), House Energy and Commerce Chairman-elect Brett Guthrie (R-KY) announced Rep. Earl "Buddy" Carter (R-GA) will take over as the Health Subcommittee chair in the 119th Congress. Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) will serve as vice chair of the subcommittee. House releases bipartisan blueprint for AI. On Tuesday (December 17), the House Bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) released a report that details seven guiding principles and more than 150 findings and recommendations for Congress as it considers how to regulate AI in the United States. CMS provides enrollment update. On Friday (December 20), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that 16.6 million people signed up for health plans through HealthCare.gov during this year's open enrollment. CMS said those individuals' coverage will begin January 1. Consumers can continue to enroll through January 15 for coverage that begins February 1. FDA updates what is considered a 'healthy' food. On Thursday (December 19), the Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule that updates the federal definition of a "healthy" food or beverage. The updated definition, which manufacturers can voluntarily use on packaging if their product meets the criteria, sets new limits on saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, and adds new requirements for products to contain one or more food groups or subgroups from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Supreme Court takes up Medicaid reproductive health case. On Wednesday (December 18), the Supreme Court said it will consider a case brought by South Carolina after an appeals court blocked the state's 2018 2018 decision to halt Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. CMMI names IBH Model participants. On Wednesday (December 18), the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, and South Carolina were selected to participate in the Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model, set to begin on January 1, 2025. IRS issues final rule for computing premium tax credit. On Tuesday (December 17), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a final rule that amends the definition of "coverage month" and certain other income tax rules related to calculating an individual's premium tax credit. Under the rule, when determining a premium tax credit a "month may be a coverage month for an individual if the amount of the premium paid, including by advance payments of the premium tax credit, for the month for the individual's coverage is sufficient to avoid termination of the individual's coverage for that month." DHS updates H-1B visa program. On Tuesday (December 17), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule that updates the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, including those in health care. The rule aims to give employers and workers more flexibility and clarify nonprofit and governmental research organizations that are exempt from the annual statutory limit on H-1B visas. CMS blog post touts benefits of Hospital Care at Home. On Tuesday (December 17), CMS published a blog post highlighting lessons learned from the Acute Hospital Care at Home Initiative and concluding that data suggest "providers can deliver safe, quality inpatient care in home settings for appropriately selected patients." ASTP/ONC publishes HTI-3 final rule. On Monday (December 16), the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ASTP/ONC) published the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Protecting Care Access (HTI-3) final rule that includes a new information blocking exception for reproductive health care. The rule, which comes a week after the agency issued HTI-2 on TEFCA, also includes updates to two existing information blocking exceptions: the Privacy Exception and Infeasibility Exception. The latest final rule does not interoperability and prior authorization policies included in the July 2024 HTI-2 proposed rule. Policies in the HTI-2 and HTI-3 final rules may be subject to the Congressional Review Act. CMS to end MA VBID model in 2025. On Monday (December 16), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will end the Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) model at the end of 2025, citing high costs driven in part by increased risk score growth and Part D expenditures. CMS requests proposals for Equity Conference. This week, CMS issued a request for proposals for the 2025 CMS Health Equity Conference, which take place April 23-24, 2025, in Bethesda, MD. CMS will host a webinar on proposal submissions on January 9, 2025 at 1pm ET and submissions will be due by January 17, 2025 at 5pm ET. OMB publishes Fall Unified Agenda. Last weekend, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted the Fall 2024 Unified Agenda, which is a list of regulatory actions that Departments, including the Department of Health and Human Services, intend to issue over the next 24 months. Click here for the HHS Rule List. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Health Subcommittee held a legislative hearing. On Tuesday (December 17), the Subcommittee heard from a panel of witnesses representing the Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans' advocates. During the hearing, members and witnesses discussed a series of bills that aim to improve veterans' access to care.
House Ways and Means Committee issues RFI on ICHRAs. This week, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee issued a request for information to seeking input on Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs), including their utilization and accessibility, regulatory and administrative requirements, employer satisfaction. Responses are due January 3, 2025. Health Affairs: National Health Expenditures In 2023: Faster Growth As Insurance Coverage And Utilization Increased. The study found health care spending in the US rose 7.5% to $4.9 trillion in 2023, driven in part by increases in spending on hospitals and drug prices, and the insured population rose to 92.5%. Health and Human Services: HHS AI Use Case Inventory 2024. The annual HHS AI use case inventory shows HHS internally disclosed 271 tools in 2024, a 66% increase from last year, including some tools that have already been retired and others still being implemented. The agencies with the most AI use include the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission: MACStats: Medicaid and CHIP Data Book. The data book includes updated data on national and state Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment, spending, benefits, beneficiaries' health, service use, and access to care. Congressional Budget Office: CBO Explains How It Incorporates Administrative and Judicial Actions When Updating Its Baseline Projections and Preparing Cost Estimate. The brief details how CBO accounts for administrative actions and uncertainty, as well as judicial rulings that block, delay, or change federal agencies' actions when making its baseline projections and cost estimates. Government Accountability Office: COVID-19: Information on HHS's Medical Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program. The report, which focuses on the Health Resources and Services Administration's Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), found CICP struggled to process an influx of claims during the pandemic due to staffing shortages, outdated information systems and limited scientific evidence related to COVID-19 and that as of June 75% of claims were still pending.
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