House

Blue Dog Democrats Urge Speaker Pelosi to Call Vote on Several Bipartisan Drug-pricing Bills
On Oct. 7, the Blue Dog Coalition asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold votes on several bipartisan drug-pricing bills, instead of wrapping them into government price negotiation legislation, the same request Republicans are making to the speaker. The Blue Dog Coalition also clarified that they want all the bills to be taken up separately from the drug-pricing bill that includes Pelosi’s drug-pricing plan, H.R. 3.

The Blue Dog Coalition wants the House to take up the following bills:

  • H.R. 965, the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act of 2019
  • H.R. 1499, the Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019
  • H.R. 2115, the Public Disclosure of Drug Discounts Act
  • H.R. 1520, the Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019
  • H.R. 1503, the Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019
  • H.R. 1781, the Payment Commission Data Act of 2019
  • H.R. 938, the Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics (BLOCKING) Act of 2019

For more information about these bills here.

Administration

CMS Rejects GAO’s Advice to Supervise Costs of Medicaid Work Requirements
On Oct. 10, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rejected the GAO’s recommendation to consider the administrative costs of Medicaid work requirement programs when looking at whether 1115 waivers are budget neutral. The GAO report found that work requirements can increase Medicaid administrative costs as states that adopt the policy update their eligibility and enrollment systems, educate beneficiaries, train staff and develop ways to monitor compliance.

CMS: Increasing Transparency on Abuse and Neglect for Nursing Home Patients, Residents, Families and Caregivers

On Oct. 7, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the enhancement of the information available to nursing home residents, families and caregivers on CMS’s Nursing Home Compare website. The site will display a consumer alert icon next to nursing homes that have been cited for incidents of abuse, neglect or exploitation. This move is part of CMS’s five-part approach to ensuring safety and quality in nursing homes, which Administrator Seema Verma announced in April 2019. The new alert icon will be launched on Oct. 23, 2019. Find more information here.

Read more on healthcare policy on the McGuireWoods Consulting website.