Congress

Wide-ranging stakeholders are continuing to press Congress to again delay or to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s fees on health insurance and medical devices, and are strongly pushing lawmakers to fully repeal the forthcoming 40% excise tax on high-cost plans, or the “Cadillac tax,” prior to the end of the year.

The Senate health committee’s proposal to end air ambulance surprise billing could lead to lower private reimbursement rates for air ambulance providers, and a decrease in private pay rates without an increase in government pay rates could threaten the entire industry, Moody's Investors Service warns.

The Senate health committee will vote Dec. 3 on whether to send Stephen Hahn’s nomination for FDA chief to the Senate floor, the committee announced Tuesday (Nov. 26).

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Reps. Cindy Axne (D-IA) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), are pressing HHS Secretary Alex Azar for answers about the ongoing shortage of pediatric cancer drug vincristine.

Congressional Democratic health leaders on Thursday demanded HHS ensure that healthcare.gov functions properly throughout the entire open enrollment season, pointing to reports that as many as 100,000 people may have failed to enroll in coverage on Day 1 of the season due to technical errors.

Lawmakers are calling on CMS and the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to prioritize patient privacy in the agencies’ proposed interoperability rules, highlighting growing tensions between HHS and Capitol Hill as the administration pushes to improve interoperability and lawmakers worry about privacy.

Senators on both sides of the aisle on Wednesday (Nov. 20) pressed FDA commissioner-nominee Stephen Hahn to take a stance on whether he thinks there should be a flavor ban on electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products, including e-cigarettes.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee on Tuesday (Nov. 19) cleared for floor action committee Chair Frank Pallone’s (D-NJ) tobacco bill that aims to curb youth e-cigarette use by raising the minimum tobacco purchase age to 21 and banning all characterizing flavors, among other policies.

The House voted Tuesday (Nov. 19) to fund the government through Dec. 20 with a package that includes so-called heath extenders that are set to expire on Nov. 21.