This week (June 22-26)

The House and Senate are both scheduled to be in session this week.

House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight will hold a hearing on "Safeguarding Federal Research Funds: The False Claims Act's Role in Combating Grant Fraud."

• Date: Wednesday, June 24 at 10AM ET
• More information available here.

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing on "State Medicaid Program Integrity: Examining Fraud Risks and Oversight Deficiencies."

• Date: Thursday, June 25 at 10:15 AM ET
• More information available here.

Last week (June 15-19)

Congressional Highlights

Senate Democrats issue RFI on drug prices. On Tuesday (June 16), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Wyden (D-OR) and a group of 10 Senate Democrats issued a request for information (RFI) on several proposals aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs. The RFI focuses on three policy objectives:

• Lowering drug prices. Proposals to expand Medicare drug price negotiation, revise inflation rebates, support biosimilars, develop subscription models for widely used medications such as GLP-1s, and more.
• Improving drug affordability for patients. Proposals to expand Medicare cost-sharing caps beyond insulin, additional pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) reforms, reform generic drug reimbursement, support pharmacies, Part D reforms, and more.
• Bolstering US biopharmaceutical innovation. Proposals to expand biomedical research funding and incentives, increase participation in domestic clinical trials, incentives to recruit and retain scientific talent, and more.

The members will accept responses, which will be used to inform future legislative drafting, through August 17.

CBO issues call for new research on No Surprises Act. On Monday (June 15), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a request for additional research on how the No Surprises Act affects provider networks, prices, ownership structure, arbitration outcomes, and market competition.

Administrative Highlights

USTR probe into Germany pharma pricing. On Thursday (June 18), USTR launched a Section 301 investigation into Germany's pharmaceutical pricing policies, citing concerns that they suppress drug prices below fair market value and shift a disproportionate share of global R&D costs onto U.S. patients, consistent with a May 2025 Executive Order directing action on foreign pricing practices. USTR is seeking negotiations with Germany to address these imbalances while opening a public comment period (comments due August 10, 2026) and scheduling a hearing for September 22, 2026, with rebuttal comments due one week after. See the Federal Register Notice here.

RFI on CAA PBM implementation. On Tuesday (June 16), CMS issued an RFI to inform implementation of PBM reforms in Medicare Part D under the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2026, focusing on limiting PBM compensation to bona fide service fees and establishing new data collection requirements. CMS is seeking input on the definition of PBM affiliates, additional data elements needed for oversight, and how current remuneration arrangements may create incentives that deviate from statutory requirements. The RFI as published in the Federal Register is available here. Comments are due July 20.

NIH creates Office of Research Innovation, Validation, and Application. On Monday (June 15), the National Institutes of Health announced the creation of a new Office of Research Innovation, Validation, and Application, which is tasked with coordinating NIH efforts to develop, validate, and scale New Approach Methodologies (NAM) for research, as part of the shift away from animal-based methods.

CMS finalizes updates to accrediting organizations. On Friday (June 12), CMS issued a final rule that updates its oversight of accrediting organizations for Medicare-certified providers and suppliers. Among other things, the rule establishes a new process for monitoring accrediting organization performance, updates standards and definitions, updates validation and performance systems, and requires accrediting organization surveyors to complete the same CMS training as state survey agency surveyors. The rule also requires accreditation surveys to be conducted without advance notice and limits certain consulting activities. CMS said the changes are intended to increase oversight of accrediting organizations and improve their performance. Click here for a fact sheet.

Hearings, Markups, and Other Committee Activity

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a markup of health care bills. On Wednesday (June 17), the Committee advanced several bills:

• Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act (S. 1782) passed en bloc in a 22-0 vote.
• Healthy Start Reauthorization Act of 2026 (S. 3799) passed en bloc in a 22-0 vote.
• Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act (S. 4109) passed en bloc in a 22-0 vote.
• Young Women's Breast Health Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act Reauthorization of 2025 (S. 2339) passed en bloc in a 22-0 vote.
• Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act of 2026 (S. 4472) passed en bloc in a 22-0 vote.
• Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act (S. 2658) passed by a roll call vote of 16-6.
• Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act (S. 1954) passed en bloc in a 22-0 vote.

The Committee also agreed in a roll call vote of 15-8 to adopt Sanders Amendment 6 to Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act of 2025 (S. 3014), which would expand an existing Medicare insulin price ceiling to private and employer insurance, but Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) delayed a final vote on the bill to seek technical assistance before further consideration. The bill is expected to be discussed again in a potential July markup.

Reports, Studies, and Journals

• MedPAC: June 2026 Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System. The report, which is required by statute, provides an update on Medicare payment incentives and operations, beneficiary enrollment decisions, MA enrollment's impact on provider finances, hospice care, and more.
• MACPAC: June 2026 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP. The report, which is required by statute, provides an update on Medicaid community engagement requirements, automation in prior authorization, Medicaid managed care accountability, appropriate access to residential treatment services for Medicaid-enrolled youth, transitions to adult Medicaid coverage for children and youth with special health care needs, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), and provider enrollment and credentialing in Medicaid.