Advocates are increasingly optimistic mental health reforms will make it into a year-end package after the House passed legislation Thursday (Sept. 29) that would support behavioral health in schools.
GET 30 DAYS FREE
Sign up for 30 days of no-obligation access for all the essential news during this critical time -- you'll be able to choose one of our online services as part of your trial: Inside CMS, FDA Week, Health Exchange Alert, Inside Drug Pricing or Inside TeleHealth.
Home
Midterm Politics
GOP Requests Explicit Congressional Authority For Upcoming HHS Rules
Ahead of a midterm election in which Republicans could regain control of Congress, House Republicans signaled they want to limit the Biden administration’s ability to set department policies with a letter that demands HHS and other agencies explain the “specific Congressional authority” for all upcoming rulemakings, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling to buttress their claims the Biden administration overstepped its authority on certain COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates.
Biden Increases Focus On Medicare Ahead Of November Midterms
Latest Pandemic News
CMS Will Extend Remote Work Flexibilities For Lab Staff Past End Of PHE
FDA on Tuesday (Sept. 27) announced it will only review a “small subset” of emergency use authorization requests for COVID-19 tests, and the agency is encouraging COVID-19 test developers to pursue traditional premarket review through the de novo or 510(k) pathways.
FDA To Review Fewer COVID Test EUAs, Focus On Premarket Reviews
HHS Makes 60K Replacement Doses Of Bebtelovimab Available For Uninsured
CDC Says Health Care Facilities Can Drop Universal Masking In Some Counties
Latest News
Key House lawmakers on Friday (Sept. 30) pledged to keep working with the Senate to pass FDA reforms in a year-end legislative package, coming as both chambers passed a stop-gap bill to fund the government through Dec. 16.
A minimum staffing ratio for the nursing home sector is a good policy in a vacuum, but likely would require more dollars in the system, Congress’ Medicare payment advisers said this week.
HHS' eventual unwinding of the public health emergency could cause over 4.6 million Latines to lose Medicaid coverage, over 60% of whom could still be eligible for Medicaid, CMS officials and health policy experts said during the agency’s most recent (Sept. 28) webinar on the PHE unwinding.
CMS on Thursday (Sept. 29) announced Medicare Advantage premiums are set to drop to an average of $18 a month for 2023, down about 8% from 2022, and the agency estimates 31.8 million people will sign up for an MA plan for 2023 as Medicare open enrollment starts Oct. 15.
FDA on Thursday (Sept. 29) approved Amylyx Pharmaceuticals’ high-profile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis drug Relyvrio, which FDA and the company say could potentially meet an unmet need in ALS treatment, even though questions have been raised about the drug’s efficacy.
The Senate on Thursday (Sept. 29) passed by unanimous consent a bipartisan bill that would eliminate requirements that experimental drugs first be tested on animals.
FDA and the Veterans Health Administration on Wednesday (Sept. 28) announced they will collaborate to develop and disseminate new tools to test the safety and effectiveness of medical devices and emerging technologies, with an initial focus on interoperable systems that can help advance automation, telemedicine and personalized health care.
FDA’s warning that certain insulin pumps are vulnerable to cyberattacks, potentially allowing hackers to prevent insulin delivery or change patients’ dosages, marks the first FDA cybersecurity alert for a medical device since a new guidance on the topic was issued in April, and comes as the FBI identifies medical devices vulnerabilities as a growing concern.
A federal district court on Wednesday (Sept. 28) directed Medicare to immediately begin paying hospitals in full for 340B drugs after the U.S. Supreme Court in July overturned a nearly 30% pay cut for Part B drugs obtained through the 340B discount program.
Focus On Monkeypox
HHS: Dentists, Pharmacists Can Administer Monkeypox Drugs, Vaccines
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has expanded the pool of providers who can administer FDA-approved or authorized monkeypox vaccines and therapies while being protected from liability under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, HHS announced Friday (Sept. 30).
Monkeypox Patients Should Be Tested For HIV As More Severe Cases Emerge, CDC Says
CDC Says Monkeypox Transmission Slowing, But Elimination Unlikely
Expert: FDA’s Monkeypox Test EUA Process Lagged Behind COVID Test EUAs
CDC Says Monkeypox Vaccine Effective, Expands Eligible Population
White House Nutrition Initiative
WH Touts Public-Private Partnerships To Address Food Insecurity
The Biden administration, Congress and the non-profit and private sectors are teaming together to try to end hunger and increase healthy eating by 2030, including a plan by Google to update its systems to let Medicare and Medicaid enrollees schedule health care appointments directly within the Google Search tool.
FDA Proposes New Criteria, Definition For The Term ‘Healthy’
White House Proposes Medicare-, Medicaid-Covered Diet, Meal Services
WH To Focus On FDA Food Safety Work As Part Of Broader Nutrition Strategy
Comprehensive Abortion Coverage
Dems Keep GOP’s Abortion Ban Bill In Spotlight; Ballot Measures Emerge; Push For OTC Abortion Drug, Medical Training Continues
Democrats continue to tee up abortion access as a midterm campaign issue, seeing it as bolstering their new hopes of retaining control of the Senate.
DOJ Says States Can’t Punish VA Doctors Offering Abortions; Republicans Disagree
ACOG Blasts Graham’s National Abortion Ban Bill, Urges White House Action
Covering the hottest new health policy debate in Washington -- in-depth reporting on the surging efforts to tackle social, racial and economic barriers to equitable health care.
© 2002-2022. Inside Washington Publishers | Contact Us
About This Site
InsideHealthPolicy.com is a subscription-based news service. Access requires a subscription to one or more of our three areas of coverage (listed below), each of which includes both online and print components.
New: Health Exchange Alert - Daily news and analysis on the hottest issue in health care reform – federal and state requirements for the creation of health insurance exchanges.
Inside CMS - Covering Medicare and Medicaid from the inside out.
FDA Week - Exclusive reporting on the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of drugs, devices, food safety and related areas.
Sign up for one month of free, no-obligation access to InsideHealthPolicy.com.