Congress

House and Senate Democrats called on the Senate Appropriations health subcommittee to reschedule a previously postponed markup of the Labor-HHS spending bill, which includes a Democratic-authored amendment to block the Trump administration’s rule withholding Title X funding from facilities that perform abortions or refer patients for abortion.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) unveiled a bill Thursday (Nov. 14) to strengthen privacy protections for consumer health data amid scrutiny over Google’s planned acquisition of Fitbit and its current partnership with Ascension.

Republicans on the Energy & Commerce health subcommittee say legislation to stop brands from using citizen petitions to unfairly delay generic competition might violate the First Amendment, but Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) said he must do his homework before taking a firm stance on whether to make an adjustment to the bill.

The House Energy & Commerce health subcommittee on Wednesday (Nov. 13) unanimously approved two bills to improve maternal health, including a bill that would allow states to extend Medicaid eligibility for up to one year after a beneficiary gives birth and receive a higher federal match rate.

Two FDA experts say 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) plan to weed out government corruption by restricting how companies share data and information with federal agencies could have a chilling effect on FDA and regulated industries.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), co-chair of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, said HHS isn’t doing enough to protect health records covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and called on the administration to describe how it will prevent health record breaches after a massive exposure of health records occurred in September.

Trump administration official Joe Grogan on Friday (Nov. 8) railed against FDA regulation of tobacco, arguing that FDA regulates products that help people, and making the agency regulate tobacco, which is “awful” and “has no redeeming qualities,” is a waste of the agency’s time and resources.

The House Ways & Means Committee will hold a hearing Thursday (Nov. 14) on caring for aging Americans, and a spokesperson told Inside Health Policy the hearing will likely cover a wide range of issues including care in the home, hospice, nursing homes, antipsychotic use in nursing homes and other long-term care issues.

Dozens of hospital and pharmacy groups have thrown their support behind a bipartisan Senate bill to avert drug shortages, with sources telling Inside Health Policy some of the groups worked with the cosponsors to develop the bill.