Billy Wynne

White House Issues Executive Order to Promote Institutional Solutions for Individuals with Mental Illness Experiencing Homelessness President Trump issued an Executive Order implementing the Administration’s vision to reduce homelessness by redirecting federal investments to promote substance use disorder treatment and mental health institutional placements for individuals with mental illness. The EO argues that a new…

Proposed Rule Exempts Home Health and Personal Care Aides from Federal Minimum Wage and Overtime Requirements The Department of Labor (DOL) proposed to rescind 2013 regulations and return to 1975 regulations that would exempt home health and personal care aides from minimum wage and overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposed rule…

FTC and DOJ Hold Second Listening Session on Ways to Make Prescription Drugs More Affordable; Focuses on PBM and Patent Reform Pursuant to President Trump’s executive order on Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First, today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Health and Human Services (HHS),…

Department Issues NPRM to Restore Firearm Rights for Select Individuals; Comments Due On October 20 The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish a formal process allowing certain individuals, currently prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law, to apply for the restoration of their gun rights (press release). The…

Ways and Means Health and Oversight Committees Examine Medicare Advantage; Prior Authorization and Upcoding Highlighted  The Ways and Means Health and Oversight Subcommittees  held a joint hearing to examine the Medicare Advantage (MA) and potential reforms to the program. Witnesses emphasized that while MA is beneficial for many Medicare beneficiaries, certain actions could be taken…

Task Force Issues Final Research Plan for Tobacco Cessation Interventions in Adults Amid Uncertainty Over the Task Force’s Future Stability The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a final research plan on interventions for tobacco cessation in adults. This research plan incorporates feedback from the draft plan issued in February 2025, and aims to…

Analysis Finds that NIH Funding Cuts and Increased FDA Review Times would Lead to 53 Fewer New Drug Approvals At the request of ranking Democrats on the House and Senate health and budget committees, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) assessed how two hypothetical policy changes – a 10 percent permanent reduction in National Institutes of…

CMS Staff Provide an Overview of WISeR Prior Authorization Model; Answer Common Questions The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hosted a webinar office hour to describe and answer questions about the new Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model. WISeR will implement technology-enabled prior authorization in Original Medicare for a select set of services…

Committee Members Debate Key Elements of Employment Benefits for Independent Workers The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing on July 17, 2025, to discuss employment benefits for independent workers. The hearing focused on four pieces of proposed legislation to address accessibility, portability, and security of these benefits: Unlocking Benefits for Independent…

Department Issues Guidance Directing Federal Agencies to Minimize Multilingual Services; Will Release Updated Guidance for Public Comment to Help Agencies Prioritize English within Six Months The Department of Justice (DOJ) released guidance to implement President Trump’s Executive Order No. 14224, which establishes English as the official language of the United States (press release). This directive…