Recently, Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Todd Young (R-IN), and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the bipartisan Healthcare Cybersecurity Act (S.4697) to address the growing cybersecurity threats in the healthcare and public health sectors. The bill aims to strengthen cybersecurity infrastructure by mandating collaboration between the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The… (Colocho, July 17, 2024) #Health Information Technology, #Hospitals, #Privacy

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced that USDA is awarding $14.3 million in funding for 154 Farm to School grant projects in 43 states, the largest investment in the program to date. These grants are intended to help school food authorities collaborate with local food producers to incorporate more local foods into school meals. Students also learn about nutrition and… (McClurg, July 17, 2024) #Nutrition, #Pediatrics

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final part two guidance for the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (M3P), which provides Part D enrollees the option to pay out-of-pocket (OOP) prescription drug costs in monthly payments over the course of the year (press release, fact sheet, timeline). What is it. While the part one final guidance (Impact summary)… (Slifer, July 16, 2024) #Medicare Part D, #Prescription Drugs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking nominations for a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to refine the scoring methodology for the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program (QIP). This program assesses and incentivizes the quality of care dialysis facilities provide to ESRD patients. Details about the TEP are below. Title: End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program… (Eisen, July 15, 2024) #End-Stage Renal Disease, #Quality

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation convened a full committee hearing to examine the need for federal privacy legislation in light of rising concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) exacerbating consumer harms. The hearing marked a significant move by the Senate towards privacy legislation, following a period of relative inactivity since the April release of the American Privacy Rights… (Colocho, July 12, 2024) #Health Information Technology, #Privacy, #Transparency

A series of recent Supreme Court decisions has reshaped the regulatory landscape, further shifting power away from the executive and legislative branches to the judiciary branch. Taken together, the decisions intensify an ongoing trend of lawsuits challenging administrative agency actions. These rulings are expected to lead to a dramatic increase in litigation, which will make it even harder for agencies… (Testa, July 12, 2024) #Affordable Care Act, #Coverage Decisions, #Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH), #Drug Pricing, #Essential Health Benefits, #Health Insurance Exchanges, #Hospitals, #Insurance Coverage, #Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), #Physicians, #Post-Acute Care, #Prevention, #Program Integrity, #Public Health, #Qualified Health Plans, #Risk Adjustment

Today, the House Appropriations Committee held a markup session for three fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills covering labor, health and human services, education, transportation, housing and urban development, and agriculture, rural development, and food and drug administration and revised subcommittee allocations. All bills were successfully advanced out of committee, with voting strictly along party lines. The markup session included… (Eisen, July 10, 2024) #Budget, #Costs, #Drug Pricing, #Food and Drug Administration, #Health Equity, #Hospitals, #Housing, #Prevention, #Primary Care, #Public Health, #Quality, #Social Determinants of Health, #Tobacco, #Women’s Health, #Workforce

The Senate Special Committee on Aging convened a hearing to examine how Congress can work to increase health care price transparency and lower costs for Americans. Witnesses included several health policy experts. Key Takeaways Political Landscape. Republicans and Democrats emphasized the critical need to increase health care price transparency. Members discussed the impacts of the lack of price transparency, contributing… (Eisen, July 11, 2024) #Cost-Sharing, #Costs, #Drug Pricing, #Hospitals, #Transparency

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), released the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability (HTI-2) proposed rule (press release, fact sheets). What is it. The proposed rule builds on the HTI-1 rule (Impact Summary) and seeks to advance interoperability,… (Slifer, July 11, 2024) #Health Information Technology

Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the calendar year (CY) 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule (press release; fact sheet; MSSP fact sheet; QPP fact sheet; Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program fact sheet), which addresses an array of policies under Medicare Part B and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) Quality… (Testa, July 11, 2024) #Accountable Care Organizations, #Care Coordination, #Clinical Labs, #Coverage Decisions, #Delivery Reform, #Drug Pricing, #Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), #Opioids, #Physicians, #Prevention, #Primary Care, #Telehealth