LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY UPDATE
Week in Brief
President Barack Obama Signs Continuing Resolution into Law, Appropriating Funding to Federal Agencies Through December 9, 2016; Funding also Addresses the Zika Virus, the Opioid Crisis, and Veterans Health Administration Medical Services. See Statements from Senate Appropriations Committee Leadership (Majority, Minority).
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
September 27
Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) Sends Letter to CEO of Mylan Regarding Price Increases of EpiPens.
September 28
Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) Release Statement Indicating Continued Commitment to Advancing Innovation, Precision Medicine, and Cancer Moonshot Legislative Initiatives this Year; Senate and House Leadership Later Highlight 21st Century Cures Legislation Passage as Lame Duck Priority.
House Ways & Means Committee Holds Hearing on Health Care Fraud Investigations.
House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Spotlights Op-Ed on High EpiPen Prices.
September 29
Senate Finance Committee Republicans Wrote the Obama Administration Regarding the Viability of CO-OPs.
“Right to Try” Legislation for Terminally Ill Patients Blocked in Senate; Lead Sponsor Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) Responds with Letter to Democratic Leadership.
REGULATORY UPDATE
Department of Health and Human Services
September 26
ONC Releases the Health IT Playbook and the EHR Contracts Untangled: Selecting Wisely, Negotiating Terms, and Understanding the Fine Print.
September 27
HHS Issues Final Rule, Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders Reporting Requirements.
September 28
CMS Publishes Final Rule to Improve the Safety and Care of Residents in Long-Term Care Facilities Participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
September 29
CMS Awards $347 Million to Organizations to Serve as Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks.
Other News
GAO Releases Reports,
September 28
The New England Journal of Medicine Features Case Study on Secondary, Nonsexual Zika Virus Transmission.
For more information about this issue of Power Play: Washington Week in Review or more legislative and regulatory updates, contact the Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville Government Relations and Public Policy group at (202) 466-6550.