Congress

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers Wednesday (April 10) reintroduced legislation to give CMS the authority to exempt alternative pay models and those under development from some Stark, or physician self-referral, law provisions, shortly after HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan assured attendees at the American Hospital Association that the department would issue rules as fast as it can easing the Stark and anti-kickback statutes’ restrictions on value-based pay.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with several other 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates, reintroduced a wide-ranging bill to reform the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

Federal Medicaid advisers expressed general support for CMS’ goal to encourage better sharing of electronic health records through its recent proposed rule on interoperability, but they declined Friday (April 12) to weigh in with any formal comments on the proposed rule, even as a few commissioners worried that the rule’s timeline for implementing new data-access requirements is too aggressive.

A conservative health policy expert involved with the Health Care Consensus Group working on an Affordable Care Act replacement plan has moved up the release date after the White House plans to unveil a plan soon.

More than 65 provider and hospital groups are pushing lawmakers to back legislation to add 15,000 additional Medicare-funded residency slots over five years, and American Hospital Association Executive Vice President Tom Nickels said a critical mass of lawmaker support is needed before providers can get to the serious conversation of how to get such legislation marked up and possibly paid for.

House Agriculture biotechnology subcommittee Chair Stacey Plaskett, who represents the U.S. Virgin Islands, said the subcommittee will spend the beginning of Congress’ term making sure FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are on track to have cannabis regulations in place.

House Energy & Commerce oversight Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO) said Wednesday (April 10) she hopes to have ready by July or September bipartisan legislation that makes insulin affordable.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reintroduced his Medicare for All legislation along with 14 other Democratic senators, pushing the party’s most-left health care proposal once again as other Democrats focus on more-moderate public options.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Tuesday (April 8) at the American Hospital Association’s annual meeting that action must be taken to ease the impact of scheduled Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payment (DSH) cuts, calling for hospital groups to work with lawmakers on remedies.