Insights

Let’s start with 3 questions about timing this week.  See if you can guess the answers! 

• What happened on time?   Selection Sunday for the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tourneys – one of our favorite events of the year! 
• What happened early?  Cherry blossoms.  The National Park Service declared peak blooms hit on March 17 – the second earliest peak on record. 
• What happened late? Well, sort of, we still don’t have a clear path to fund the government past March 22.  Better late than never?! 

The Administration 

Health and Human Services Sec. Xavier Becerra will makes a second set of appearances this week on the President’s Budget.  His testimony before the Senate Finance Committee last week touted the Administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs and increase the number of people insured under the Affordable Care Act.  Expect more pointed questions in the House Appropriations Committee about funding priorities and the House Ways and Means Committee about Medicare and health savings accounts on March 20. 

What hasn’t yet come up in these hearings is the Administration’s response to the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group that processes 15 billion health care transactions annually and touches 1 in every 3 patient records.  CMS, the HHS Office of Civil Rights, and the Department of Labor have all sent out notices of assistance within their jurisdiction.  The American Hospital Association has indicated the response to date has been woefully inadequate. 

The Senate 

The mad dash this week is to make sure the government remains funded past March 22 and before both the Senate and House will go back to their states and districts for a 2-week district work period.  While appropriations leaders have been working through the weekend, there’s no paper yet.  

We will be keeping our eyes peeled for any updates on the AI front, as the Gang of Four was predicting releasing their lessons learned from the various AI Insight Forums held over the last few months.  While the leaders will release a set of findings and suggested direction, the work of legislating will be left to the committees. 

The House 

If it feels like déjà vu all over again, you’re not alone.  We have 1 week to go to fund 6 major departments including HHS, Education, Labor, Homeland Security, Defense, State, and Treasury.  Funding for Homeland Security is one of the sticking points.  We had been anticipating the possibility of certain health care policy riders being attached, such as pharmacy benefit manager reform, hospital price transparency, and community health center funding, but it looks like these proposals may have to wait until after the election. 

• Don’t forget – Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO-4) is retiring on March 22 – shrinking the GOP majority to a mere 5 votes (218-213). The margin will likely shrink further when New Yorkers go to the polls on April 30 to select a replacement, likely a Democrat, for the recently retired Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY-26).  

Besides Sec. Becerra’s appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee, we will be watching closely as the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee rips into FDA’s controversial proposed rule to regulate lab developed tests on March 21. The full Committee may also be marking up a number of health and non-health bills. 

So, here we go – March Madness – DC style.  If you have a free minute, don’t forget that MedPAC and MACPAC sent up their annual March Reports to Congress!  If you remember being able to receive those pubs by mail, let us know….  

The daffodils are in full bloom in Washington and Congress and the administration are trying to make the most of the next 2 weeks before taking a break for the Easter holiday.  There’s a lot going on in DC, so let’s get to it!

The Administration

All eyes on are the President’s annual budget release which will set out the President’s priorities for the government heading into the November elections.

• Pay attention to what the President is proposing that can be done through Executive Order or regulation vs. what needs Congressional action.  While the “dead on arrival” phrase is often used in Washington, some things will be deader than dead, if that’s a thing, but anything the President can do on his own is fair game.

On March 1, President Biden gave his third State of the Union address, leaning into issues that energize the Democratic base and remind viewers and voters of his accomplishments.  For health care, he:

• promised to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land, noting how red states have restricted access to IVF
• expressed his desire to extend the Medicare insulin cap at $35/month to those with commercial insurance
• made the case for expanding the number of prescription drugs subject to Medicare negotiations beyond current law

The Senate

The Senate took a victory lap over the weekend by passing a package of 6 bills to fund the government through September, including the Food and Drug Administration.  Congress now has 2 weeks to figure out how to fund the rest of the government before the March 22 deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.

• As an aside, how many times have we typed those words – avoiding a government shutdown – in the last few years?  We’ve lost count….

With immigration remaining at the forefront, the next set of bills, including Defense, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, won’t come so easily.

For health care, the Senate Finance Committee will host Sec. Becerra for a discussion of the President’s budget on March 14.  Yes, there will be partisanship but that isn’t what most interests us….

• Watch for Senators’ priorities as they comment on the budget – this shows what each is championing and what might be able to move forward yet this year.

The House

The House comes back to take up 11 bipartisan bills coming out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee under suspension of the rules. But partisan tensions are sure to resume later in the week as the House brings up a resolution denouncing the Biden Administration’s immigration policy.

For health care, the focus is on the committees this week.  On March 12, the House Energy & Commerce Committee will be meeting to markup and move 19 bipartisan health-related bills, covering a wide range of issues, including maternal health, dementia treatment, cancer screening and a host of other initiatives. One bill of note that has garnered considerable attention is the “Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act” (H.R. 7153), which seeks to raise awareness and provide resources to address the mental health issues facing the health care workforce.

Also, on March 12, the House Ways & Means Committee will hold a full committee hearing titled, “Enhancing Access to Care at Home in Rural and Underserved Communities,” which will include testimony from both patients and providers about the challenges in improving access to in-home care and to modernizing the delivery of care in rural and other underserved communities.

There You Have It

We at Chamber Hill Strategies, are counting down the days:

• 10 days left of winter
• 11 days till the men’s NCAA basketball tourney starts
• 12 days to avoid a government shutdown