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Tag: Congress


EHR & EMR

A matter of trust: More delays for the VA’s EHR system

September 29, 2023

Via: Healthcare Dive

Those who have been following the new electronic health record rollout at Veterans Affairs hospitals over the past year will not be surprised to hear there’s been another bump in the road. The “reset” or “pause” that was instituted in […]


Regulatory

CMS lays out plans for negotiating drug prices

March 16, 2023

Via: Healthcare Dive

While Congress laid out the broad principles for Medicare to negotiate “maximum fair” prices for drugs, much of the process and details were left to the CMS to develop this year ahead of negotiations starting in 2024 for a first […]


News

It’s ‘Telehealth vs. No Care’: Doctors Say Congress Risks Leaving Patients Vulnerable

January 31, 2023

Via: Kaiser Health News

When the covid-19 pandemic hit, Dr. Corey Siegel was more prepared than most of his peers. Half of Siegel’s patients — many with private insurance and Medicaid — were already using telehealth, logging onto appointments through phones or computers. “You […]


Regulatory

Medical group asks Congress to offset Medicare payment cuts

November 15, 2022

Via: Healthcare Dive

Congress appropriated billions of dollars in additional funding over two years to avoid cuts to Medicare payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Provider groups last year successfully lobbied lawmakers to delay a 4.5% Medicare payment reduction until 2023. The 4.5% across-the-board […]


Regulatory

Congress finally eliminates Part D vaccine cost sharing: Medicare coverage is still broken

August 26, 2022

Via: Healthcare Dive

In its passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Congress has taken the long overdue step of eliminating out of pocket, or OOP, costs for vaccines under Medicare Part D. The OOP prohibition aligns with policies under Medicare Part […]


Regulatory

President Biden to sign executive order aimed at protecting abortion access

July 8, 2022

Via: Healthcare Dive

The executive order comes as attempts to codify abortion rights into federal law have repeatedly stalled in Congress and states attempt to restrict access to abortion and prosecute physicians who provide them. Calling the court decision an “affront to women’s […]


Regulatory

HHS asks for more information blocking authority from Congress

May 27, 2022

Via: Healthcare Dive

The administration requested the authority from Congress in President Joe Biden’s budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year. The budget, which isn’t binding but comprises a wish list for agency funding, includes in some cases what the administration deems as […]


Regulatory

Congress poised to address mental health crisis — including fining payers for benefit inequities

February 4, 2022

Via: Healthcare Dive

Congress appears poised to work on a bipartisan mental health and substance misuse package this year, following a series of hearings this week stressing the need to boost the workforce, insurer benefits and telehealth access. Legislators also seemed to support […]


Regulatory

Senators pinpoint MA oversight, cutting drug costs to address looming Medicare insolvency

February 3, 2022

Via: Healthcare Dive

With Medicare insolvency expected in just a few years, lawmakers are zeroing in on ways to save the program money, including curbing prescription drug costs and increased oversight of privately run Medicare Advantage plans — though many of these measures […]


News

Congress pressures FDA, Biogen on Alzheimer’s drug approval, price

June 29, 2021

Via: Healthcare Dive

Aduhelm has already been infused into the first Alzheimer’s patients post-approval, but Medicare hasn’t readied any criteria for limiting eligibility. The FDA’s approval, which applied to Alzheimer’s patients broadly, didn’t take into account the clinical trial population, which included only […]


Regulatory

4 vital health issues — not tied to Covid — that Congress addressed in massive spending bill

January 28, 2021

Via: The Medical News

Late last month, before President Joe Biden took office and proposed his pandemic relief plan, Congress passed a nearly 5,600-page legislative package that provided some pandemic relief along with its more general allocations to fund the government in 2021. While […]


Regulatory

DTC Drug Price Transparency: Ball’s in Congress’ Court

November 13, 2019

Via: Forbes

Last week, Senators Durbin (D – Illinois) and Grassley (R – Iowa) attempted to advance the Drug-Price Transparency in Communications Act through unanimous consent, but objections from Senator Toomey (R- Pennsylvania) scuttled the plan to expedite passage of the bill. […]


Regulatory

As Congress works to curb surprise medical bills, N.Y.’s fix gets examined

November 5, 2019

Via: The Medical News

Lobbying campaigns and legislative battles have been underway for months as Congress tries to solve the problem of surprise billing, when patients face often exorbitant costs after they unknowingly receive care from an out-of-network doctor or hospital. As Congress considers […]


Uncategorized

Consumer health information is increasingly at risk, groups tell Congress

February 27, 2019

Via: Health Data Management

Americans are facing a growing threat to their privacy as their online activities are closely monitored and used to reveal increasingly personal information, including potential details about their state of health. Sensitive information and changes in daily habits are tracked […]


Regulatory

Provider groups urge Congress to pass maternal health bill this year

November 15, 2018

Via: Health Data Management

A coalition of more than 80 organizations wants Congress to pass a maternal health bill by the end of 2018. The groups, which include the American Hospital Association and American Medical Association, support legislation passed by the Senate health committee […]


Regulatory

Congress seeks better data sharing to trim maternal mortality

November 5, 2018

Via: Health Data Management

Lawmakers are trying address a deficiency of data when it comes to understanding an alarming spike in U.S. maternal mortality by enabling states to participate in nationwide information sharing. The U.S. maternal mortality rate has more than doubled between 1987 […]


News

Will Congress bring sky-high air ambulance bills down to earth?

September 28, 2018

Via: The Medical News

Air ambulance rides are literal lifesavers. But how much should they cost? In the ongoing, crowdsourced “Bill of the Month” investigation, Kaiser Health News and NPR received more than a dozen bills from people around the country on the hook […]


Regulatory

House, states, Trump administration reach settlement in ACA subsidies case

December 18, 2017

Via: FierceHealthcare

The Trump administration, the House of Representatives and the attorneys general from multiple states have reached a settlement in a federal court case concerning the legality of cost-sharing reduction payments. The settlement has no immediate effect on what will happen […]


Regulatory

What I told Congress about Patient Access to Experimental Medicines

October 17, 2017

Via: Forbes

Early this month, I went to Washington, D.C., to serve as a witness for a hearing on “Examining Patient Access to Investigational Drugs” held by the Subcommittee on Health of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce. The […]


Regulatory

As Tax Reform Looms, Hospitals Defend U.S. Exemptions

October 12, 2017

Via: Forbes

As the Republican-led Congress moves from its failed health reform effort to an attempt to restructure the U.S. tax code, the nation’s hospital industry is out with a new report defending its federal tax exemption. The American Hospital Association says […]