Key Health Reforms Scrapped in New CR Proposal: Just days after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) introduced a heavily-negotiated funding deal and year-end health care package, House Republicans held a losing vote on a scaled-back CR Thursday night without many provisions included. Lawmakers face a Friday deadline to pass government funding legislation and avoid a shutdown, but 38 Republicans joined 197 Democrats voting against the slimmed-down CR backed by President-elect Donald Trump. The slimmed-down CR included a three-month extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities, extensions for community health centers, the NHSC, teaching health centers, and low-volume and Medicare-dependent hospitals. However, the new bill left out an APM bonus extension, SUPPORT Act reauthorization, PBM reform, Rx patent reform, and a 2.5% physician pay bump. As of writing, a path forward is yet unclear.

GOP Senators Announced “MAHA” Caucus: On Thursday, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) announced the formation of the Make America Healthy Again Caucus, aimed to address preventative care, nutrition, CHCs, and telehealth policy. In addition to Marshall, other caucus members are Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Ron Johnson (R-WI).

FDA Declares Tirzepatide No Longer in Shortage: On Thursday, the FDA removed tirzepatide, the active ingredient used in Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, from its shortage list. This decision will impact drug compounders, though FDA gave compounders and outsourcing facilities a grace period to stop compounding the drug. The Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding said state-licensed compounding pharmacies have known the legal compounding period would end, but the Outsourcing Facilities Association filed a lawsuit alleging FDA’s decision to take tirzepatide off the shortage list was arbitrary and capricious.

FDA Finalizes New “Healthy Food” Definition: On Thursday, the FDA released a final rule requiring more rigorous nutrition standards for foods labeled “healthy.” The FDA first began soliciting public input for this rule as early as 2016. The FDA is also expected to release a proposed rule that would require front-of-pack labeling on food products.  

2023 U.S. Healthcare Spending Jumped Above $5 Trillion: On Wednesday, the Office of the Actuary at CMS published new estimates on U.S. healthcare spending, showing a 7.5% jump in 2023. The insured share of the population grew to 92.5% in 2023, partly because of enhanced premium subsidies for ACA plans passe by President Biden. Yet, people also spent more out-of-pocket in 2023.

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