Tag: Drug Pricing

McDermottPlus Check-Up: February 14, 2020

This Week’s Dose: House committees advanced legislation to address surprise billing, and the White House released the President’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021.

McDermottPlus Check-Up: January 24, 2020

This Week’s Dose: It was a relatively quiet week in Washington with the House of Representatives in recess and the Senate enmeshed in the impeachment trial. Activity is sure to pick up as so...

McDermottPlus Check-Up: January 10, 2020

This Week’s Dose: Congress is back in session following the holiday recess, though the exact Senate schedule remains uncertain as lawmakers negotiate the details of President Trump’s impea...

McDermottPlus Healthcare Preview: December 16, 2019

A Busy Week to End 2019. Sort of.

• Congress Has One Week to Fund the Government and Address Major Health Care Priorities. Congress needs to fund the government and address the health care exten...

  McDermottPlus Check-Up: December 13, 2019

  This Week’s Dose: House Democrats passed a sweeping drug pricing reform package and key House and Senate committees announced a surprise billing deal. ...

  McDermottPlus Check-Up: December 06, 2019

  This Week’s Dose: Congress is back in town with just two weeks to address government funding and many healthcare issues. More proposals are emerging on drug pricing and surprise billing, and...

  McDermottPlus Healthcare Preview: November 18, 2019

  Last Week to Address Government Funding and the Extenders.  

  • November 21^st is Here. This week, Congress has to fund the government to prevent a shutdown and address the healthcare ...

    McDermottPlus Healthcare Preview: October 28, 2019

    A House Vote on Prescription Drug Pricing Reforms Slips as We Approach a One Week Recess in the House. House Vote on Prescription Drug Pricing Slips. The House was moving lightning fast to advance H.R....

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: October 25, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: The House Ways and Means Committee completed its markup of H.R. 3, but floor consideration was pushed until mid-November. Seema Verma appeared before the House Energy and ...

    McDermottPlus Healthcare Preview: October 21, 2019

    Administrator Verma is testifying, and the debate on prescription drug pricing reforms continues.   CMS Administrator Seema Verma Is In the Hot Seat. Administrator Verma will be testifying before the H...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: October 18, 2019

    The Healthcare Preview podcast, now available on SoundCloud (link to profile here) This Week’s Dose: The House is moving ahead on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing proposal.

    McDermottPlus Healthcare Preview: October 14, 2019

    Congress is back for a six week stretch.   What Will Congress Get Done in the Next Six Weeks? The next six weeks are critical for moving healthcare legislation and funding the government. The Senate is in sess...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: September 30, 2019

    Congress is out on a two recess, but the effects of the impeachment inquiry will have long lasting impacts.   What Does the Impeachment Inquiry Mean For Health Care? Last week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: September 27, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Speaker Pelosi’s announcement of an impeachment inquiry dominated the news this week, but what does that mean for health care policy?

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: September 23, 2019

    Congress has one last week in session before a two-week recess. This Means It Will Be a Busy Week. The first order of business is for the Senate to pass the short-term continuing resolution (CR) that the House ...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: September 20, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Speaker Pelosi released her long-awaited drug pricing bill, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee questioned drug companies’ financial motivations during a hearing ...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: September 17, 2019

    The Government Funding Deadline is Quickly Approaching… Congress Has Two Weeks to Address Government Funding. Last week, we expected that the Senate Appropriations Committee would mark up of four fiscal year ...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: September 13, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: The House and Senate are back in session with two weeks to go until the government funding deadline and lots to do. Congress...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: September 9, 2019

    They’re Back….  Congress Is Back in Session. The first thing on Congress’ to-do list is to address government funding. With only three weeks to fund the government before a potential shutdown, Congress n...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: September 3, 2019

    Welcome to September!  What Does The Rest of the Year Have in Store for us? Prior to the August recess, there was significant movement in Congress to advance health care proposals. As a reminder, the proposals...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: July 29, 2019

    One chamber down. One to go before the August recess. What Will the Senate Do During Its Last Week in Session? It is likely the Senate will focus on issues outside of health care this week, so the health care community c...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: July 26, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: The Senate Finance Committee finally released its drug pricing package and moved quickly to a markup. The bill passed out of committee, but work will continue before the fu...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: July 22, 2019

    This is the last scheduled week the House is in session and the second to last week the Senate is in session before the August recess.  What will get done? Mark-Up of the Senate Finance Committee’s Prescription Drug Package This Week?...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: July 15, 2019

    We head into another critical week before August recess. What’s Left of the Administration’s Prescription Drug Pricing Proposals? Last week was a difficult week for the Administration regarding its drug pricing agenda. First...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: July 12, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Congress is back for the final legislative session before the August recess, and it’s all about what can get done ahead of the break. House and Senate committees have alr...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: July 8, 2019

    They’re back…and heading into the final weeks before the August recess. What Can Get Done? That’s the key question as we enter into the next four weeks. Congress has been very busy leading up to this stretch, and what gets...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: June 28, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Lots of movement in Congress ahead of the Fourth of July recess with the House and Senate both advancing a number of health care bills. President Trump also signed an execu...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: June 21, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Three weeks down, one week to go in this work period. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is moving forward with its cost containment legislat...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: June 17, 2019

    Two weeks down. Two weeks to go. All Eyes Watching the Senate HELP Committee. This week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will have a hearing on the Lower Health Care Costs Act. The Lower Health...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: June 7, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Congress is back, and this week marked the start of another busy legislative session. Work continues on drug pricing, surprise billing and cost containment, and negotiation...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: May 24, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: We saw a flurry of activity this week related to drug pricing, surprise billing, cost containment and tobacco as lawmakers worked through their to-do list ahead of the Memo...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: May 17, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Drug pricing remains in the spotlight, but lawmakers also introduced legislation focused on surprise billing and coinsurance. Congres...

    McDermottPlus Health Care Preview: May 13, 2019

    We are half way through this four week work stretch… And the conversations continue to point to prescription drug pricing. Last week was a busy week on prescription drug p...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: May 10, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Another busy week for prescription drug pricing. Two more hearings took place on the subject, and a handful of bills passed out of the House. Now we watch the Senate to see...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: May 3, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Lots of activity surrounding single-payer this week with a hearing, the introduction of two Medicare expansion bills and a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: April 12, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Drug pricing continues to be the focus in Congress with multiple hearings and markups on the subject. So far, lowering drug prices remains a rare area of consensus among la...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: March 29, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: Congress is back and busy. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) dominates the headlines. Congress Democrats Release...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: March 15, 2019

    This Week’s Diagnosis: All about the budget. Medicaid work requirements back in the spotlight. Recess awaits. Congress Azar Ma...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: March 8, 2019

    This Week’s Diagnosis: Hearings, hearings and more hearings. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is stepping down. Budget talks heat up. Congress<...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: February 22, 2019

    This Week’s Diagnosis: It’s all quiet on the Hill. Members return Monday after the first full week of district work time in the 116^th Congress.

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: February 15, 2019

    This Week’s Diagnosis: Congress passed a $328 billion spending package to avert another government shutdown.  President Trump is expected to sign it.  Congressional hearings continue to fo...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: February 8, 2019

    This Week’s Dose: The State of the Union briefly highlighted a few Administration health initiatives. The House continues its focus on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Senate is pressuring...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: February 1, 2019

    This Week’s Diagnosis: Government reopens…for at least three weeks. Congress is full steam ahead, kicking off the 116^th with health care hearings on drug pricing and pre-existin...

    McDermott Plus Check-up: January 25, 2019

    This Week’s Diagnosis: Hearings are beginning and priorities are emerging. The shutdown drags on. And updates are trickling out of the Administration.

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: January 11, 2019

    This Week’s Diagnosis: Welcome back – sort of. The partial federal government shutdown drags on. We are on day 21 with no end in sight...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: December 7, 2018

    This Week’s Diagnosis: Memorial services for President George H.W. Bush were held this week in Washington, DC and Texas. No agreement has been reached on border wall funding, which means Mem...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: November 30, 2018

    This Week’s Diagnoses: Welcome back! Members are back in town for a sprint to the finish. Controversy over the House Democratic leadership elections fizzled, with the same faces in the top t...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: October 26, 2018

    This Week’s Diagnosis: The Administration remains active with the issuance of several new guidance documents, the drug pricing announcement and the President (finally) signing the bipartisan...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: October 19, 2018

    This Week’s Diagnoses: All eyes are on the midterm election, now less than three weeks away.  The House and Senate are out; the Administration continues to release health-related regulation...

    McDermottPlus Check-Up: September 28, 2018

    This Week’s Diagnosis: Consideration of the Kavanaugh nomination dominated airtime in the Senate this week, but the House stayed on-task, pushing through a number of health-related bills. <...