Billy Wynne

Trump Issues Executive Order on Federal Agency Reductions; Targets Lending Programs Including CDFI, Government-Funded Media Outlets, and Homelessness Agencies President Trump signed an executive order (EO) entitled, “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.” The EO directs seven entities to reduce their functions and personnel to the minimum amount required by law. This includes the…

Report and Datasets on Federal IDR Implementation for the First Half of 2024; List of Certified IDR Entities    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a report and datasets on the implementation of the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process during the first six months of 2024. CMS also released a list…

FDA Announces New Infant Formula Agenda Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action on infant formula to ensure its quality, safety, and nutritional adequacy and keep the supply chain resilient. The planned actions include: Starting the nutrient review as required by…

SFC Considers Dr. Oz for CMS Administrator; Dr. Oz Avoids Taking a Stance on Medicaid Cuts and Pledges to Use Technology, Lifestyle Interventions, and MA Regulation to Make Health Care More Efficient The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) convened a hearing to consider the nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare…

Commission Releases March 2025 Report to Congress with Recommendations for Payment Adequacy Updates, Removal of Freestanding IPF Limits The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) released its March 2025 Report to Congress. The first nine chapters review Medicare payment policy, payment adequacy indicators, and the Commission’s recommendations for updating 2026 payments across sectors of fee-for-service (FFS)…

MACPAC March 2025 Report to Congress Addresses External Quality Review in Managed Care Oversight and Improving Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) released its March 2025 Report to Congress, with (1) recommendations to improve the transparency and usability of external quality review findings in managed care oversight…

Senate HELP Committee Advances FDA and NIH Nominees to Full Floor; White House Withdraws CDC Nomination The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to advance Dr. Martin Makary for Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)…

House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Examines Challenges in Post-Acute Care; Highlights Bipartisan Concerns with Medicare Advantage The House Ways & Means (W&M) Health Subcommittee convened a hearing to examine challenges in post-acute care access, particularly focusing on Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, Medicaid funding, and nursing home staffing standards. Lawmakers from both parties raised concerns about…

CMS Innovation Center Cancels Eight Models Ahead of New Strategy Announcement The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) issued a statement announcing certain models will be canceled or end by December 31, 2025. The declaration was made after a review of the model portfolio by the Trump administration, which asserts that models must reduce spending…

Proposed Rule Addresses ACA Marketplace Integrity and Affordability; Comments Due Mid-April The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the “Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule,” which includes a series of proposals intended to address improper enrollments in Marketplace coverage and reduce improper federal spending on advanced premium tax credits (APTCs) (press release; fact…