Congress continues to host a flurry of healthcare focused hearings, including hearings on consolidation in healthcare markets and rural healthcare access. In a House Budget Committee hearing about consolidation in the healthcare market, witnesses Dr. Benedic Ippolito from American Enterprise Institute and Sophia Tripoli from Families USA, as well as committee chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), and other committee members, renewed calls to implement site neutral reforms. In the hearing about rural healthcare access, members brought up concerns about insufficient Medicare payments to rural hospitals, the importance of telehealth in rural areas, and challenges surrounding the rural healthcare workforce. Other recent congressional hearings included discussions about the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of medical devices, Medicare’s coverage of dental care, competition in the pharmaceutical manufacturing market, prior authorization in Medicare Advantage, and more. Read more here and here.
Notably, House Republicans have announced plans to cut federal spending next year, including an 11% cut to funding to Labor-Health and Human Services (L-HHS) appropriations. While details of how this cut would be achieved have not yet been released, recent Republican budget proposals to have often included site neutral reforms, the removal of the physician-owned hospital moratorium, and additional 340B program oversight.