The House is back after a week of celebrating/demagoguing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and the Senate has a rescissions package on the table. Meanwhile, the deadlines to fund the government and pass health care extenders are fast approaching. So, let’s get into it – welcome to the Week Ahead!
The Administration
The Rural Health Transformation Fund is getting all the attention in the newly signed OBBBA, which provides $50B over 5 years to states to improve access, outcomes and financial stability for rural hospitals and other providers. The fund is meant to blunt the law’s $155B cut in funding over 10 years for rural areas, an estimate from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
With an application deadline of December 31, states, rural health care providers, and other stakeholders are eagerly awaiting guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Funding for the program can be used for:
- Payments to health care providers
- Recruitment and workforce training
- Purchasing new technologies
- Supporting access to opioid use disorder treatment and mental health services
- Promoting evidence-based interventions to improve preventive care and chronic disease management
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary is also making news by saying the agency may fast track new drugs from pharmaceutical companies that “equalize” the cost of their medicines between the U.S. and other OPEC countries. In a Bloomberg Television interview, he floated the idea that price adjustments may give companies another way to obtain vouchers under the National Priority Review Voucher program. The program, launched last month, is designed to shorten the approval process for companies it says are backing national interests.
While Makary described the idea as supporting President Trump’s goal of preventing foreign countries from securing lower drug prices at Americans’ expense, he did not provide details about how drug companies would have to adjust their prices to qualify for a voucher under the program.
This announcement follows the issuance of a May executive order on most-favored nation (MFN) prescription drug pricing and repeated threats to impose tariffs on foreign pharmaceutical products, including a July 8 threat to impose tariffs up to 200% “very soon.” However, this voucher proposal takes a “carrot” approach to pricing that may be more palatable to congressional Republicans who’ve expressed anxiety about MFN and tariffs.
The Senate
The White House is hoping to score another win by passing a $9.4B rescissions package which would make significant cuts to federal HIV funding and global health programs, including $400M from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Despite opposition from certain Senate Republicans about the bill’s impact on domestic HIV prevention and global health diplomacy, as well as on emergency alerts in rural areas if federal funding is eliminated to public broadcasting, the package still has a path forward because Senate rules require only a simple majority to pass it. However, the package faces a strict procedural deadline: it must be passed within 45 days of submission, which in this case would be July 18.
Deja vu all over again? If the Senate waters down the savings in the bill to accommodate concerns from the Senators mentioned above, it could complicate passage in the House by the deadline, given Freedom Caucus interests in holding firm on the President’s requests for cuts to these programs.
The bigger impact may be on the FY 2026 appropriations process, and the potential for the government to run out of funding on September 30. In a Dear Colleague, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the recissions package “…an affront to the bipartisan appropriations process” and added that it would be “absurd” for GOP lawmakers to then “expect Democrats to act as business as usual and engage in a partisan appropriations process to fund government.”
Senate Health Hearings
- Senate HELP Nomination Hearing for Assistant Secretary for HHS
The House
With the House only in session for two more weeks before Labor Day, speculation is already growing on how Congress will handle the health care provisions, like Medicare telehealth waivers, that expire with the continuing resolution (CR) on September 30. Will there be a straight extension of current policy for a few more months, as has been done in the past? Or will Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) try to address health care in a second reconciliation bill he has hinted at this fall?
Speaking of health care priorities, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee will hold a July 16 hearing on the public health workforce, rural health, and over-the-counter drug legislation. This will be the first hearing for the subcommittee since Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) was selected as the Subcommittee Chair. Griffith has long shown interest in streamlining FDA processes, and he might prioritize legislation aimed at faster drug approvals, clarifying regulatory pathways, or encouraging domestic drug manufacturing to reduce foreign dependence.
There You Have It
Summer travel season is in full swing! Where are you traveling this summer? Be on the lookout for our summer reading recs on LinkedIn! Make it a great week!
