HEALTHCARE HEARINGS

While congressional debate and action will focus on aid to Israel this week, committees will continue to move forward their health agendas via hearings. The House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the Change Healthcare cybersecurity attack is likely to garner significant attention.

Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra will continue to testify in front of committees of jurisdiction to promote President Biden’s fiscal year 2025 budget. This week he will appear on both sides of the Capitol, where he will testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Other hearings will focus on the long-term care workforce, COVID-19’s origins, data privacy, improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid, and examinations of food as medicine.

It is also noteworthy that the Biden Administration is running out of time to finalize regulations that will not be subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) should Republicans gain control of the Senate, House and White House next year. As a reminder, the CRA empowers Congress to easily invalidate late-issued regulations by federal agencies, including final rules, interim final rules and guidance documents, at the end of a presidential term. The CRA is most practically used by a new Congress to invalidate regulations issued by a previous administration that were received within 60 legislative days of the previous Congress’s adjournment. To learn more about the CRA and its implications for next Congress, read our summary here.

TODAY’S PODCAST

Debra Curtis and Rodney Whitlock join Priya Rathakrishnan to discuss congressional healthcare activity this week, with a focus on the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing on cybersecurity and solutions to prevent issues like the cyberattack on Change Healthcare.