Billy Wynne

CMS Proposes to Hold Accrediting Organizations to the Same Standards as Medicare and Increase Oversight The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule to strengthen oversight of accrediting organizations (AOs) by addressing conflicts of interest, establishing consistent standards, and updating the validation and performance systems (fact sheet). What it is. This rule increases oversight…

House Ways and Means Committee Hearing Continues the Conversation on Preventing Drug Shortages Today, the Ways and Means Committee convened a hearing to examine drug shortages, supply chain resiliency, and the impact of shortages on providers. The hearing echoed previous Congressional discourse on the topic by focusing on generic sterile injectables, especially cancer drugs cisplatin…

HRSA Puts Out Contract Solicitation for OPTN For the first time since the creation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) issued multiple requests for proposals (RFPs) to support the OPTN. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has had the sole contract to run the nation’s…

Committee Advances PBM Delinking Bill The House Committee on Oversight Accountability convened a markup of H.R. 6283, the Delinking Revenue form Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act, which would delink pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reimbursement from drug cost and utilization and limit reimbursement to a bona fide service fees. The amendment in the nature of a substitute…

Labor, HHS, and Treasury Likely to Exercise Enforcement Discretion for Cost-Sharing Disclosure Requirements for Items and Services With Extremely Low Utilization On Friday, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury released Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) announcing enforcement discretion, on a case-by-case basis, for the new cost-sharing disclosure requirements – applicable to…

ONC and SAMHSA Announce Behavioral Health IT Initiative The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced a partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to launch a new behavioral health information technology (IT) initiative. ONC and SAMHSA will work together to invest more than…

HHS Finalizes its Regulations Regarding Medications for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder and Highlights Overdose Prevention Strategy The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a final rule to modify regulations regarding medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder. The Administration also released a…

Agency Announces $28 million to Expand Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Treatment Services The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced a $28 million notice of funding opportunity for two grant programs aimed at expanding substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services among pregnant and postpartum women and through adult and family treatment drug courts.…

Health Subcommittee Discusses Potential Reforms for Health Care Bill Following Lower Costs, More Transparency Act The House Energy & Commerce (E&C) Health Subcommittee convened a hearing to discuss additional solutions, beyond the House-passed Lower Costs, More Transparency (LCMT) Act (H.R. 5378), to constrain health care costs (hearing memo). Both parties touted the price transparency provisions…

Biden-Harris Administration Initiates Medicare Drug Price Negotiation, Unveils Resource Hub for Lower Drug Costs The Biden-Harris Administration, through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), announced it has initiated the first cycle of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. This program, established by the Inflation Reduction Act…