LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY UPDATE
Week in Brief
The Senate Passes the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Issues a Statement.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
November 27th
HHS Secretary Nomination: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Issues a Statement about Meeting with HHS Secretary Nominee Alex Azar. Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Issues a Statement Regarding Alex Azar’s Qualifications.
November 28th
Opioid Crisis: The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Holds a Hearing Entitled Combating the Opioid Crisis.
November 29th
HHS Secretary Nomination: The Senate HELP Committee Holds a Hearing on the Nomination of Alex Azar to Serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) Issue Opening Statements. Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) also Issues a Statement.
November 30th
Opioid Crisis: The Senate HELP Committee Holds a Hearing Entitled The Front Lines of the Opioid Crisis: Perspectives from States, Communities, and Providers. Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Issues an Opening Statement.
21st Century Cures Act: The House Energy & Commerce Committee Holds a Hearing Entitled Implementing the 21st Century Cures Act: An Update from FDA and NIH. Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) Issues an Opening Statement.
December 1st
Medicaid Waivers: Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) Send a Letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma Regarding Iowa’s Amendment to the State’s Medicaid Waiver.
REGULATORY UPDATE
Department of Health and Human Services
November 27th
Drug Costs: OIG Releases Issue Brief, Excluding Noncovered Versions When Setting Payment for Two Part B Drugs Would Have Resulted in Lower Drug Costs for Medicare and Its Beneficiaries.
November 29th
Opioids: CMS Updates the Medicare Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool.
November 30th
Semiannual Report: OIG Issues Its Semiannual Report to Congress.
December 1st
Payment Models: CMS Promulgates Final Rule Canceling the Episode Payment Models (EPMs) and Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) Incentive Payment Model and Amending the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Congressional Hearings
SENATE
Senate Appropriations Committee
Addressing the Opioid Crisis in America: Prevention, Treatment & Recovery
• December 5, 2017 | 10:00a.m.
124 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Senate HELP Committee
Implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act: Progress and the Path Forward for Medical Innovation
• December 7, 2017 | 10:00a.m.
430 Dirksen Senate Office Building
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.