Speaker Johnson and McConnell Expected to Release Bipartisan Continuing Resolutions Next Week: After House leadership’s first two CR attempts failed, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is expected to put another stopgap measure on the floor next week. There are two possible tracks that Johnson may pursue - a bill that would keep the government running through March but is unlikely to have Democratic support, or a bill that funds the government through December. A “clean” funding extension without any controversial provisions attached is widely viewed as the only viable option to prevent a shutdown. The Speaker has not yet said what his next steps will be. In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is readying legislation to keep the government funded through December.  

House Energy and Commerce Committee Passes Slate of Healthcare Bills: On Wednesday, the full House Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup of sixteen bills, many of them health policies. The topline legislation was Rep. Buddy Carter’s (R-GA) telehealth extension, which would extend coverage of telehealth services for two years. Though the measure passed unanimously, Democrats raised some concerns regarding the pay-fors of the bill, seeking further information on the savings expected from the PBM reform measures included. Republicans also passed a measure to overturn the Biden Administration’s nursing home staffing standards rule on a party-line vote.  

House Passes Fourteen Health Bills: On Wednesday, the House passed fourteen bills via suspension. Measures included the Accelerating Kids Access to Care Act, Telehealth Enhancement for Mental Health Act, Chronic Disease Flexibility Act, and reauthorizations of the INCLUDE Project Act and Autism CARES Act.  

CBO Meets with Lawmakers to Address Health Policy Concerns: Last Friday, the Congressional Budget Office met with lawmakers in a closed-door meeting to discuss new technologies, the long-term effects of preventive health, and the budgetary impacts of hospitals acquiring physician practices. This was to follow up requests made to CBO Director Phillip Swagel for more detailed information to inform future policy. According to sources, CBO advisors discussed potential savings of screening tests, preventative health investments, and even site-neutral payments.  

HRSA Sends Sanction Warning on Johnson & Johnson’s New 340B Rebate Model: On Tuesday, the Health Resources and Services Administration gave Johnson & Johnson until September 30 to revert changes to its new 340B rebate model or potentially face monetary penalties and be kicked out of the 340B program. Johnson & Johnson plans to offer rebates instead of traditional upfront discounts to DSH hospitals, which HRSA says violates current law.  

Senate Finance Committee Holds Hearing on I.R.A. Health Savings: On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the “benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act,” with Democratic lawmakers seeking a victory lap on health provisions. Theo Merkel, a senior research fellow at the Paragon Health Institute, said ACA health plans bolstered by I.R.A. spending “look like Medicaid managed care” subsidized by the government, but the “underlying plan designs are not high quality.”

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