Both chambers are in session this week, with focus mostly on two items: the House taking up the Senate-passed reconciliation 2.0 bill to fund US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Patrol, and continued debate on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization. There were initial discussions about including healthcare provisions in reconciliation 2.0, but the bill ultimately does not include healthcare policy. These two items are of top priority for lawmakers this week, particularly as FISA authorization expires June 12, 2026.
Amid this work, healthcare action will take place at the committee and floor level. The House will consider multiple program integrity bills that aim to crack down on fraud in federal programs, including healthcare programs such as Medicaid. The House Rules Committee is meeting today, June 8, to discuss three program integrity bills, two of which advanced from the House Oversight Committee in late April by party-line votes. H.R. 8464 would give federal agencies the ability to pause, condition, or split payments when there is an elevated risk of fraud, while H.R. 8312 would establish a permanent Office of the Inspector General for Fraud, Accountability, and Recovery within the US Department of the Treasury. The Rules Committee will also consider a resolution to condemn individuals committing fraud and declare that federal program eligibility should be verified before payment. It is likely that these bills will continue to be debated along party lines.
Today, the House will consider six additional program integrity bills on the floor under suspension of the rules. All six advanced from the House Oversight Committee in April with strong bipartisan support and, given they are being considered under a suspension, are likely to receive bipartisan support on the floor. The bills would implement program integrity training for federal workers, require agencies to conduct pre-payment fraud and improper payment checks, and require the US Government Accountability Office to periodically publish a high-risk list for federally funded state programs vulnerable to fraud.
The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee will discuss nine healthcare transparency bills. The bills include increased reporting requirements for hospitals, health plans, and pharmacy benefit managers, with the goal of lowering healthcare costs for consumers. Included in the discussion is the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act of 2026, which passed the House in 2023 with bipartisan support. This year’s version is more narrow than the 2023 legislation. For example, it does not include provisions related to Medicare site neutrality. This hearing could be a signal that lawmakers may be interested in including transparency provisions in a lame duck package.
The House Appropriations Committee also will mark up the fiscal year 2027 Labor-US Department of Health and Human Services (Labor-HHS) bill. The House Labor-HHS Subcommittee advanced the bill by a party-line vote on June 5, 2026. [DC1.1]Prior to the full committee markup, the committee released the report and the list of community-funded projects to accompany the funding bill.
In this week’s Healthcare Preview, Rodney Whitlock and Debbie Curtis join Erin Fuller to discuss Congress’ focus this week on reconciliation 2.0, FISA, and broader legislative efforts to crack down on fraud in federal programs, including healthcare.
