If there is one thing senators on both sides can usually agree on, it’s the importance of August recess, especially during an election year. However, President Donald Trump’s demand that the Senate cancel the planned recess to pass the SAVE America Act and advance a budget reconciliation resolution has put pressure on Republicans to stay in town. Will the demands work? We’re on the edge of our seats. So, let’s get into it. Welcome to the Week Ahead!
The Administration
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is hard at work on Medicare payment rules, reviewing stakeholder comments and getting rules finalized ahead of the next fiscal and calendar years. All of the final fiscal year rules for 2027, including the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals, the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System, the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System, the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System, and the Hospice Wage Index Proposed Payment System, have been pushed out the door but the comment periods for the 2027 calendar year payment rules, including the Physician Fee Schedule, Changes to the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System, the Home Health Prospective Payment System, and the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System, are still ongoing, so stakeholders are working on submitting their statements before the deadlines.
Meanwhile, the administration was handed a momentary win when a federal judge in Massachusetts denied a request for a preliminary injunction against parts of the Medicaid work requirements interim final rule. The injunction request was made by 25 states and Washington, D.C., who are challenging the inclusion of a work requirement in the definition of medically frail, the use of a 12-month look-back period in assessing medical frailty claims, and the imposition of a work requirement on the short-term hardship exception. The judge ruled against the injunction request on the basis that the states did not show that it was necessary to prevent irreparable harm. However, the judge also noted that the denial was not a reflection or anticipation of what the court will ultimately decide in the lawsuit and the ruling said the court will set an expedited schedule to allow for full briefing ahead of the January 1, 2027, implementation deadline. Furthermore, the ruling noted that the injunction request was being denied without prejudice, meaning if the briefing continues to the implementation date of January 1, 2027, states could again ask the court to issue an injunction.
The Senate
Despite the pressure from President Trump and over a dozen senators to cancel recess, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has said he doesn’t see a reason to do so. Specifically, Leader Thune has said that the Senate has voted on the SAVE Act multiple times, and he doesn’t see how staying in town would change the result.
As that drama plays out, Leader Thune has filed cloture on the legislative vehicle to extend government funding through December 4. The measure includes a provision to block President Trump’s rule to change the approval of grants (at least through December 11). There is also plenty of Committee-level work related to health care. The Senate Budget Committee is holding a hearing on Medicaid on August 4, which will be the first hearing that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has called since becoming Budget Chair, other than a previously scheduled business meeting to advance a nomination. Also on August 4, the Senate Finance Health Subcommittee is holding a hearing on biotechnology, and the Senate Judiciary Committee was planning on holding a hearing on how competition and transparency can lower drug costs, but it has been postponed.
The House
House members are enjoying their August recess.
There You Have It
Those of us here at Chamber Hill are also looking forward to the possibilities that August has to offer. What is your favorite summer activity? Let us know. Make it a great week!
