Congressional leaders from both parties wrote to HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Wednesday (June 3) pressing him to immediately distribute emergency relief money from the CARES Act to Medicaid-dependent providers.

The Congressional Research Service says Congress could rein in FDA’s broad discretionary authority over vaccine clinical trial policies by legislating how the agency and Institutional Review Boards approach clinical trial designs and reviews for the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as for future emergencies.

CMS tells Inside Health Policy that extending many of the newly waived restrictions on telehealth beyond the pandemic would require Congress to step in, despite the president’s executive order aimed at making some COVID-19 regulatory waivers permanent.

During a Senate hearing on Tuesday (June 2), the head of Congress’ oversight arm’s health division called FDA out for what she asserts are significant problems with the way the agency manages its foreign drug inspection program, and she questioned the agency’s decision to halt foreign inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A federal appeals court is grappling with whether states are required to reimburse Medicaid managed care plans for a controversial Obamacare tax -- and, if they aren’t, whether the federal government must pay back nearly $500 million to six states that challenged the regulatory regime surrounding the tax.

Democrats continued to emphasize a need for the federal government to take the lead on the COVID-19 testing supply at a House Energy & Commerce subcommittee hearing where three governors, including two Democrats and one Republican, testified Tuesday (June 2) on their states’ responses to the pandemic.

Third-party medical device servicers want Congress, FDA and CMS to ensure that, post-COVID-19, servicers will still be able to obtain critical device servicing materials, including equipment manuals and training, access to which has increased during the pandemic thanks to collaboration between servicers and device makers.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said the widespread protests across the country during an uncontrolled pandemic demonstrate why the United States should extend health coverage to more Americans via a public option and not eliminate the Affordable Care Act, as the Trump administration says it wants to do.