Budget

Advocates for robust funding of FDA were pleased the president's fiscal 2019 budget released Monday (Feb. 12) calls for a 13 percent increase over fiscal 2018 continuing resolution levels.

A newly released Council of Economic Advisors report on drug pricing, which is expected to inform HHS' fiscal 2019 budget request, is angering both public health advocates and those favoring sweeping drug pricing reforms, given it suggests FDA can lower drug prices by speeding FDA approvals of brand drugs and making FDA's approval standards easy to comply with, all while making no mention of brand industry-opposed reforms, including those that have been floated by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, such as cracking down on abuses of FDA-mandated safety programs.

The Senate and House included in their government-funding bills doctor-backed changes to the new Medicare physician pay system, such as excluding the cost of Part B drugs from the calculation of doctor pay, delaying the use of cost measures in doctor performance scores, giving CMS three more years to transition to the performance threshold, and letting the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) weigh in earlier on pay models that providers design.

The bipartisan budget deal announced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday (Feb. 7) includes four additional years of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program; funding for community health centers, teaching health centers and the National Health Service Corps; repeal of the therapy caps; a delay of the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital pay cuts and funding for other so-called Medicare extenders, according to a Democratic overview of the deal and draft bill language obtained by Inside Health Policy.

The draft budget deal announced by Senate leaders Wednesday (Feb. 7) includes a provision that would for the first time allow hospitals and doctors' offices to share Medicare claims data with standalone Part D prescription drug plans.

The Senate struck a deal Monday morning and paved the way to fund the government through Feb.8, fund the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years, delay the Cadillac tax and medical device tax for two years and pause the tax on health insurance plans for 2019.

The House approved the GOP leadership's one-month government funding bill, along with six years of Children's Health Insurance Program funding and a delay of the ACA's industry's taxes, Thursday evening (Jan.18), 230-197, leaving the fate of a potential government shutdown Friday to the Senate.

Just hours before the House is slated to vote on a GOP-crafted short-term continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown, Democrats, led by Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA), are laying plans to force a vote on separate legislation that would permanently reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, reauthorize funding for community health centers for two years, permanently repeal therapy caps for seniors in Medicare, and reauthorize the home visiting program for five years.

House Republicans plan to attach six years of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program and delays of three Affordable Care Act taxes to the continuing resolution that must pass by Friday to avert a federal government shut-down, according to GOP lawmakers leaving a conference meeting Tuesday night.