26 January 2026 This Week in Health Policy for January 26 The House is scheduled to be out of session this week, but the Senate is scheduled to return on Tuesday (January 27) to take up the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026. Senate Veterans' Affairs will hold a hearing on "Building a 21st Century VA Health Care System: Assessing Efforts to Restructure the Veterans Health Administration."
Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing on "Truth in Labeling: Americans Deserve to Know Where Their Drugs Come From."
House passes HHS appropriations and extenders. On Thursday (January 23), the House approved the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, a bipartisan, bicameral compromise package that would fund the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for fiscal year (FY) 2026 and extend several health care programs, including community health center funding. The Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills were approved 341-88. The Homeland Security measure passed separately in a 220-207 vote. The agreement does not include funding to revive the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits that expired on December 31. It also does not include policies in President Trump's "Great Healthcare Plan" to expand tax-preferred accounts like Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or codify the Most Favored Nations deals, however it does include additional transparency provisions for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and hospital billing. The bill also extends Medicare telehealth flexibilities, delays Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts until FY 2028, extends alternative payment model (APMs) bonus payments for the 2026 performance year at 3.1%, delays the 15% reduction in Medicare clinical laboratory payments for 2026, and more. Click here for the Congressional Budget Office score of the package.
The Senate is planning to return to session on Tuesday — weather permitting — with four days to pass the spending bills before the January 30 deadline for government funding under the remaining appropriations bills. The Senate must additionally approve the Financial Services and General Government and National Security-State Department bill, which leaders are planning to combine with the new four-bill package. Senators urge HHS to fix the NSA's IDR process. On Friday (January 16), Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy calling on the department to finalize rules to improve the No Surprises Act's (NSAs) independent dispute resolution (IDR) process and expedite the removal of ineligible disputes. HHS reinstates research ban on human fetal tissue from abortions. On Friday (January 23), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reinstated a policy that bars research that uses human fetal tissue obtained from elective abortions. The ban does not include fetal tissue from miscarriages and stillbirths. HHS also announced other deregulatory actions in line with the Trump Administration's EO on Enforcing the Hyde Amendment. HHS announced completion of WHO withdrawal. On Thursday (January 22), HHS along with the Department of State today announced the United States' completion of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) following President Trump's announcement last January announcing withdrawal plans due it its perceived mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement indicates all funding and personnel have been withdrawn and they have begun pivoting all prior activities conducted with WHO to direct bilateral engagements. White House issues federal funding review for 14 Democratic states, DC. On Tuesday (January 20), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent letters to all federal agencies except the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense directing them to review all federal funding for 14 Democratic states and Washington D.C. The scope of the review includes grants, cooperative agreements, loans, contracts/subcontracts, and other monetary awards. HHS also announced the addition of a second attorney to support the HHS-wide initiative to combat fraud. DOJ drops 340B rebate pilot appeal. On Friday (January 16), the Department of Justice filed a motion to formally drop its appeal of a legal challenge that has delayed the January 1, 2026 launch of the 340B rebate model pilot. The DOJ did not include details on what this means for the rebate model, which was scheduled to begin on January 1. ARPA-H unveils funding opportunity for FDA authorization pathway for clinical AI. This month, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced a new research and development funding opportunity for companies to create agentic AI assistants for clinical care and to establish a regulatory framework within the FDA for generative AI used in high-risk settings such as clinical care. The program aims to develop the first FDA-authorized agentic AI technology for cardiovascular disease that can provide 24/7 patient support. House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee and the House Ways and Means Committee held separate hearings on lowering health care featuring a panel health insurance executive. On Thursday (January 22), the Committees each held separate hearings on health care affordability during which they heard testimony from a panel of five health insurance CEOs and one patient advocate. The executives were from UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, Elevance Health, Cigna Group and Ascendiun. During the hearings, members of both parties spoke critically about insurer prior authorization practices and the impact of vertical integration on the health system, at times asking pointed questions regarding the insurers' denial rates and consolidation efforts. The CEOs also faced member criticism, largely from Democrats, related to their compensation and corporate profits. The insurance executives all acknowledged the current affordability crisis and the problems plaguing the US health care system, pointing to rising health care prices driven by hospitals and drug companies, the aging US population, and other systemic issues that contribute to higher premiums. The executives committed to working to improve the health care system but called on Congress to take action to address the factors driving increased coverage costs. Keep an eye out for more detailed WCEY alerts on the hearings. House Budget Committee held a hearing on "Reverse the Curse: Skyrocketing Health Care Costs and America's Fiscal Future." On Wednesday (January 21), the Committee held a hearing during which members heard testimony from health care policy experts from think tanks and advocacy groups on rising health care costs. During the hearing, Republican members pointed to rising premiums as proof of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) failure and proposed alternative solutions, such as HSAs. Democratic members, meanwhile, called for an extension of the ACA's enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs).
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