The Trump administration will again allot $10 million for marketing and outreach during the upcoming Affordable Care Act open enrollment period, which is 90 percent less than spent by the Obama administration in 2017.

Former CMS officials, a Democrat and a Republican, discussed the intense political pressure CMS staff would be subject to if Medicare were to negotiate drug prices, and they said the current system is preferable.

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) President and CEO Scott Whitaker is upset the Senate tucked into its recently passed opioid bill a provision expanding the sunshine law to require that drug and medical device makers also publicly disclose payments made to nurse practitioners, physician assistants and midwives – not just doctors and hospitals – for promotional talks, consulting and other interactions.

Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) is drumming up support for a letter that will ask CMS to adjust the low-volume threshold in order to include more providers in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System as part of the final 2019 physician fee schedule – an agency move that would be supported by some stakeholders like Premier and the American Medical Group Association even though the American Medical Association and others want CMS to finalize the exemption as proposed.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is pressing FDA to provide more information about its recent spate of warning letters and civil monetary penalties to more than 1,300 e-cigarette companies.

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the American Hospital Association and American College of Cardiology are concerned that aspects of FDA's Medical Device Safety Action Plan – including a voluntary 510(k) program for moderate-risk devices and a required software bill of materials (SBOM) – could create more medical device safety issues than it would solve, according to comments the groups recently submitted to FDA's docket.

CMS on Thursday (Sept. 20) told assisters working to help people get coverage through healthcare.gov that certain victims of Hurricane Florence may qualify for an exceptional circumstance special enrollment (SEP) period that allows them additional time to enroll, and they may be eligible for other SEPs due to relocating outside of their region or other reasons.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar said that the agency is not directing or encouraging states to include opioid-abuse treatment, substance-abuse treatment, or mental health benefits in short-term plans and is leaving regulation of the plans up to individual states.