Senate HELP Committee hears from Louisiana stakeholders on healthcare. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Cassidy convened two healthcare hearings in Louisiana in advance of his Senate primary on May 16, 2026. He was the only committee member in attendance. At the first hearing, which focused on affordability, employers, executives, pharmacists, and patients testified about the impact of rising costs and market consolidation. They urged Congress to pursue reforms to the 340B program, strengthen pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) oversight, implement site-neutral payment policies, and expand transparency efforts to improve affordability and patient access. Chair Cassidy promoted his “Money and Value for Patients” agenda as a framework to lower costs, increase transparency, and empower patients to make informed decisions, while also pointing to recent legislative wins on PBM reform, including the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026’s Medicare Part D provision that bans spread pricing and requires 100% pass-through of all rebates.
At the second hearing, which focused on access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, Cassidy sought input on how Congress can better support the provision of mental health services, asking witnesses to identify effective treatments and policy measures to improve their accessibility. Witnesses expressed support for telemental health, the HALT Fentanyl Act, and the SUPPORT Act as key tools in addressing the opioid and mental health crises. Witnesses also raised concerns about providers spending insufficient time with patients during treatment. When a witness discussed the benefits of Section 1115 institution for mental disease waivers in allowing longer inpatient stays, Chair Cassidy acknowledged the potential benefits of longer treatment stays but cautioned against possible abuse within Medicaid.
Reconciliation 2.0 not expected to impact healthcare. On May 4, 2026, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released their respective reconciliation bill texts, each covering portions of a roughly $72 billion package focused on immigration enforcement and US Department of Homeland Security priorities. The current reconciliation effort appears narrowly structured, with jurisdiction limited to these committees and policy changes largely confined to border security and immigration-related funding. As a result, reconciliation 2.0 is not expected to meaningfully impact the healthcare sector. While some lawmakers have begun discussing the possibility of a future reconciliation 3.0 package that could include health-related provisions, the immediate priority for Congress remains advancing and enacting the current targeted reconciliation bill.
HHS announces efforts to curb psychiatric overprescribing. HHS agencies, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) wrote a Dear Colleague letter encouraging healthcare providers to expand their use of evidenced-based nonpharmacological mental health treatments, including psychotherapy and family/lifestyle-based interventions, and to regularly review psychiatric medication regimens. An HHS press release outlines a multiagency approach, spanning education and outreach, policy and program changes, and research initiatives, aimed at reducing unnecessary initiation of psychiatric medications, supporting safe discontinuation when appropriate, promoting informed consent and shared decision-making, and increasing access to alternative treatments.
These efforts will be carried out across HHS:
CMS expands push to modernize electronic prior authorization. CMS Administrator Oz announced the addition of an electronic prior authorization use case to the Health Tech Ecosystem pledge for payers, providers, and health IT vendors aiming to support interoperable end-to-end workflows that extend beyond minimum federal requirements. The effort builds on prior insurer commitments to streamline and improve the prior authorization process, and aligns with upcoming rules requiring faster decision timelines and full implementation of electronic systems by 2027. CMS reported that leading health plans have already been implementing prior authorization modernization, eliminating 11% of prior authorizations across a range of medical services, representing 6.5 million fewer prior authorizations for patients. CMS also released a timeline outlining previous and current goals for bolstering electronic prior authorization, highlighting the October 1, 2027, compliance deadline for electronic prior authorization for drugs.
Supreme Court temporarily restores telehealth mifepristone access. On May 4, 2026, the US Supreme Court issued an administrative stay pausing a lower court decision that would have reinstated in-person dispensing requirements for the medical abortion drug mifepristone; as a result, telehealth prescribing, mailing, and pharmacy access can temporarily continue. The case stems from a 2023 FDA decision to remove in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone. The stay remains in effect until May 11, 2026, when the Supreme Court is expected to decide whether those requirements should be reinstated while litigation proceeds.
The House and Senate are scheduled to return to session the week of May 11, 2026, when lawmakers will resume work on the “skinny” reconciliation package to fund US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At the committee level, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee is expected to hold a markup of public health reauthorizations, and the Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the president’s fiscal year 2027 budget for the FDA featuring testimony from Commissioner Makary. On the regulatory front, we continue to await the federal independent dispute resolution operations rule and the final Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027.
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