Congress

HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir tried to assure senators Wednesday (Sept. 23) that HHS’ decision to require all health agency rules to be formally signed by HHS Secretary Alex Azar will not interrupt agencies’ rulemaking processes.

About 1.53 million people have insurance purchased through Covered California, the highest number since the exchange went live in 2014, which indicates the Affordable Care Act is providing the safety net that Congress intended, exchange executive director Peter Lee announced Tuesday (Sept. 22), a day before he urged Congress to adopt nationwide solutions to lower marketplace premiums, provide options to consumers with inadequate employer coverage and address the health disparities exposed by the pandemic.

The House passed several health bills on Monday (Sept. 21), including one to codify non-emergency transportation as a mandatory Medicaid benefit and another to strengthen maternal health care in rural areas.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar missed House Energy & Commerce Democratic leaders’ Friday (Sept. 18) deadline to brief them on his role in a slew of reported efforts by HHS political appointees to change scientific documents and communications coming out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and on how he would prevent future political interference.

The House has pushed back its highly anticipated floor vote on a bill that would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act -- a bill experts have asserted would take authority away from the Drug Enforcement Administration and potentially put it into the hands of FDA.

HHS’ top communications official, Michael Caputo, is taking a 60-day leave of absence following his reported efforts to alter scientific data coming out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and his senior policy advisor, Paul Alexander, who accused CDC of intentionally undermining the president, will leave the department, HHS announced Wednesday (Sept. 16).

House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and oversight subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO) on Monday (Sept. 14) demanded HHS Secretary Alex Azar participate in an immediate briefing to respond to reports that appointees from the White House are working to review and change scientific COVID-19 public health reports and quiet public health officials.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee passed 26 health bills on Wednesday (Sept. 9), including three meant to boost Medicare patient protections and mental health services, sending them to the House floor.

A slimmed-down version of the Senate Republicans’ coronavirus relief bill died as expected in the Senate on Thursday (Sept. 10) after a vote to end debate on the legislation failed, 52-47, with every Democrat voting against the bill.