Billy Wynne

Committee Examines President Biden’s Executive Order on AI and Sector-Specific Expertise in AI with Administration Officials The House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee convened a hearing to examine how federal agencies can leverage sector-specific expertise to navigate the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI). Members discussed with Administration officials AI’s diverse applications across the health…

Revised Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program Guidance Clarifies Identification of Rebatable Drugs and Rebates for Drugs in Shortages The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released revised guidance (Part B Guidance and Part D Guidance) for the Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program (press release, fact sheet). Overall, CMS provides clarity on the…

Innovation Center Announces Changes to the MA VBID Model for 2025 The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI or Innovation Center) recently released a blog post detailing several forthcoming changes to the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model for 2025.   The Innovation Center explains that the VBID model has grown exponentially since it began…

House Passes SUPPORT Act Reauthorization Hours After Senate HELP Committee Advances Bill to the Floor Today, the House of Representatives passed the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act by a vote of 387-37. The legislation features the reauthorization of many existing programs and the following new provisions: Requires future regulations addressing opioid use to…

Senate HELP Committee Advances SUPPORT Act Reauthorization, Sends Four Bipartisan Bills to the Floor The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee convened a markup of four bipartisan bills on addressing substance use disorder, early detection in cancer screening, and high-quality educational research. This included reauthorizing major provisions of the SUPPORT Act which expired…

Lower Costs, More Transparency Act Passes by Vote of 320-71; Features PBM, Transparency, and Site-Neutral Provisions The House of Representatives passed the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act by a vote of 320-71. The legislation features the following provisions: Increasing transparency of hospital prices, clinical diagnostic laboratory test prices, imaging prices, ambulatory surgical center prices, health…

ASPE Report on Competition in Prescription Drug Markets The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) released a report on competition in prescription drug markets from 2017 to 2022. ASPE notes that President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy identified a lack…

Draft Medicare Payment Adequacy and Update Recommendations for 2025 On December 7-8, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held a public meeting at which it considered a series of draft payment update recommendations to Medicare payment systems in 2025 for inclusion in its March 2024 Report to Congress.   The Commission expressed support for 2025…

More Than 7 Million Individuals Have Enrolled in Health Insurance Through ACA Marketplaces Since Open Enrollment Began The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that as of earlier this week, nearly 7.3 million individuals have enrolled in health insurance through the Marketplaces since open enrollment began on November 1, 2023. Highlights are as follows: 5…

Department Unveils Comprehensive Cybersecurity Strategy for Health Care and Public Health Sectors; Proposals Include New Cybersecurity Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Hospitals and Updating the HIPAA Security Rule Next Year The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a comprehensive strategy aimed at fortifying cybersecurity measures within the health care sector. This initiative is…