02 March 2026 This Week in Health Policy for March 2 Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing on "Transforming Health Care with Data: Improving Patient Outcomes Through Next-Generation Care."
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing on "Oversight of Fraud and Misuse of Federal Funds in Minnesota: Part II."
House Appropriations Committee releases FY 2027 guidance. Last week, Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) released guidance that outlines the framework and deadlines for members' FY 2027 community project funding (CPF) (also known as earmarks), programmatic funding, and report language requests. The deadline for members to submit requests for the Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS) appropriations bill is March 20, 2026. Members are limited to 20 total CPF requests across all appropriations bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet released its FY 2027 guidance. President Trump State of the Union. On Tuesday (February 24), President Trump delivered his State of the Union address during which he discussed a range of topics, including health care. The President said he wants to address health plans profiting off the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the cost of drugs, touting proposals in his "Great Health Care Plan" that call on Congress to pass legislation that would direct federal subsidies to individuals and codify his Most Favored Nation agreements with drug manufacturers. The President also spoke of his intent to protect Medicare and announced a "war on fraud" to be led by Vice President JD Vance. CMS announces new fraud actions. On Wednesday (February 25), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is temporarily halting $259.5 million of quarterly federal Medicaid funding in Minnesota, citing an ongoing investigation into questionable claims. CMS also announced a six-month nationwide moratorium on Medicare enrollment for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies suppliers (DMEPOS). The agency also published a request for information (RFI) on its new Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare (CRUSH) initiative, including potential rulemaking and other programmatic changes to prevent fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. The RFI is open for comment until March 30. HRSA activity on 340B rebate model pilot. On Wednesday (February 25), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) extended by 30 days the deadline to submit comments on its 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program RFI. The comment period will now end on April 20. On Thursday (February 26), HRSA also issued an information collection request, seeking feedback on the burden associated with reporting and collecting data under the 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program. ARPA-H invests $144M in aging research. On Tuesday (February 24), ARPA-H announced seven research teams who will be awarded up to $144 million over five years to identify and study early markers of aging as part of its PROactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience (PROSPR) program. FDA publishes framework for individualized rare disease treatments. On Monday (February 23), the FDA published draft guidance on its "plausible mechanism" pathway, which aims to accelerate the development and approval of individualized therapies for rare diseases. The draft guidance is primarily focused on genome editing and RNA-based therapies but the agency notes that they could use the framework for other tailored therapeutics provided they directly address the underlying specific cause of the disease. Tri-agencies extend comment period for TiC rule. On Monday (February 23), HHS, along with the Departments of Labor and Treasury, extended the comment period for their Transparency in Coverage (TiC) proposed rule. The comment period will now end on March 2. CMS to launch Medicare App Library. On Monday (February 23), CMS announced it is launching a Medicare App library that will feature digital health apps reviewed for privacy, security, and usability through third-party accreditation programs. Apps participating in CMS's ACCESS demonstration model will receive special designation. Supreme Court strikes down IEEPA tariffs. On February 20, in a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not provide authority to impose tariffs. The Chief Justice was joined by Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson. Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Alito dissented. The decision strikes down tariffs imposed under IEEPA on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China, as well as global 10% and country-specific tariffs. The decision also invalidates the potential for tariffs pursuant to executive orders related to Venezuela, Russia, Iran, Brazil, and Cuba. The decision does not strike down the national emergencies declared by the President, who could still invoke IEEPA to impose other measures that "regulate commerce" or otherwise address the national emergency. The decision also does not impact tariffs issued or being investigated under Section 232, including potential pharmaceutical, PPE, medical consumables or medical device tariffs. In response, the Trump administration used Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose 10% tariffs on all trading partners via executive order. The Section 122 10% tariffs took effect on February 24 and expire on July 24. The carveouts from the Section 122 tariffs are similar to what existed under the IEEPA tariff regime — including carveouts for products subject to section 232 tariffs, such as pharmaceuticals. Cassidy issues report on FDA reforms. On February 17, Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) released a report outlining potential reforms to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) scientific review process, including policies to accelerate market entry of low-cost generic drugs, integrating AI into FDA drug reviews and approvals, streamlining clinical trials, and more. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on "Advancing the Next Generation of America's Health Care Workforce." On Tuesday (February 24), the Subcommittee heard testimony from a panel of witnesses representing providers and academics who urged Congress to increase graduate medical education payment rates for rural hospitals and other federal investment to improve rural health care. During the hearing, members from both sides of the aisle raised concerns about physician shortages and the impact on patient care, particularly in rural areas. Republican members spoke of the need to increase and retain residents and physicians in rural areas, with some raising concerns about U.S. reliance on foreign-born workers. Democratic committee members spoke critically about Medicaid cuts and changes to student loans under H.R. 1.
Senate HELP Committee held a legislative hearing on six bills. On Thursday (February 26), the Committee advanced four bills, including two health care-related bills:
Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on "Nomination of Casey Means to be Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service and Surgeon General of the Public Health Service." On Wednesday (February 25), the Committee heard testimony from Casey Means, President Trump's nominee for U.S. Surgeon General. During the hearing, members asked questions on a range of topics, including health care affordability, prescription drug costs, chronic disease prevalence, and vaccines and autism rates. Ms. Means spoke in favor of transparency, preventive medicine and metabolic health reforms to lower health care costs over time and improve care. Means fielded several questions from Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Democratic members on vaccines. Means spoke in support of the Administration's policies on vaccines and said factors that could be contributing to rising autism rates should be explored.
Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on "From Regulator to Roadblock: How FDA Bureaucracy Stifles Innovation." On Thursday (February 26), the Committee held a hearing during which members heard from a panel representing providers, biotechnology companies, and rare disease patient advocates. During the hearing, both Republican and Democratic members raised concerns about the FDA's staffing and approach to rare disease treatments. Democrats raised concerns with ensuring safety and maintaining scientific integrity through more accelerated approvals, while Republicans spoke of the need to ensure rare disease products are not unnecessarily delayed.
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