Congress

Congressional appropriators recently expressed bipartisan, bicameral support for the Biden administration’s proposed new biomedical research agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).

Bipartisan senators passed several maternal health bills through the Senate health committee Tuesday (May 25), advancing policy proposals like anti-bias training for providers and improving Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data collection for rural mothers.

A group of organizations representing workers, providers of and beneficiaries who use home- and community-based services sent a letter to Congressional leadership Tuesday (May 25) urging them to put HCBS funding in the next legislative package, as Republicans say a bipartisan infrastructure agreement is still far off and other advocates suspect the package will eventually move through reconciliation.

Group medical practices are asking HHS for more than just time beyond June 30 to spend their provider relief funds; they want the department to address what they consider unnecessarily complex and administratively burdensome financial reporting requirements that make providers submit all their health care expenses to prove they needed the relief.

The White House appears to be drawing a sharp line when it comes to including investments in the caregiving economy in a potential infrastructure compromise with Republicans, according to a memo the administration sent Friday (May 21) to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking Republican Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) offering to cut over $500 billion from its initial package.

Children’s health care advocates, who have long been worried about children’s mental health, are cheering the Biden administration’s latest investment of $14.2 million from the American Rescue Plan to create new state and regional pediatric mental health care teams.

A bipartisan group of senators including Senate Finance Ranking Republican Mike Crapo (ID) are reintroducing legislation that would direct the Congressional Budget Office to consider savings from preventive services when estimating the cost of legislation and would let Congressional leaders get an analysis of those measures beyond the 10-year budget window.

Senators from both parties expressed support for continuing telehealth flexibilities after the COVID-19 public health emergency during a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday (May 19), though some lawmakers and witnesses want to see more data collected on the impact of flexibilities before any extensions are made permanent.

As major health care organizations largely cheer the Biden administration for proposing to roll back the so-called gag rule, those representing former Title X grantees say HHS needs to go a step further and formally revoke the Trump-era rule that keeps Title X grantees from referring patients for abortions.