Congress

A draft legislative package released by Senate health committee leaders Thursday (May 23) would require plans to have up-to-date provider directories, available online or within 24 hours of an inquiry, but Medicare Advantage (MA) plans would not be included in that policy, according to the office of Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers, led by emergency room physician Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA), unveiled Thursday (May 23) an outline of legislation that would hold patients harmless from surprise bills and allow providers and issuers to resolve payment disputes through arbitration.

The Senate health committee’s bipartisan legislative proposal would hold patients harmless for surprise bills and lays out three possible reimbursement options for those situations: benchmark rates that are similar to the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s solution; an “in-network guarantee” that is supported by employers; and an arbitration option, which hospitals and providers have backed.

The Senate health committee’s bipartisan draft bill on lowering health care costs does not expand the Trump administration’s point-of-sale rebate proposal to the commercial market, after Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said the proposal was being considered for inclusion.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley said Wednesday (May 17) that committee members are considering a rework of financial liability in the catastrophic phase of Medicare Part D to help curb rising drug prices.

Lawmakers stuck to partisan lines as they debated the tradeoffs of a single-payer health care system during a House Budget Committee hearing, with Republicans focusing on how a transition to the system could disrupt American health policy and Democrats highlighting the potential positive outcomes.

Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) said he has been pushing Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley to embrace a Medicare drug price negotiation scheme that includes a formulary designed to make it easier for patients and their doctors to bypass coverage restrictions.

House Ways & Means Committee leaders are asking in letters sent Tuesday (May 21) that HHS Secretary Alex Azar provide them with a full review of his department’s programs that combat maternal mortality and for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on maternal mortality data.

Families USA, in a move reminiscent of the run-up to the Affordable Care Act debate, is spearheading a new alliance of beneficiary advocates, employers, unions and primary care doctors who say they are willing to rethink traditional partnerships to tackle fundamental problems with the nation’s health system by changing economic incentives.