Legislative Progress
Momentum (last 30 days)
0
score
0 actions · 0 new cosponsors · 0 votes
Speed vs cohort
51pct
1d open
vs 9,062 other HR bills in the 116th — cohort avg 39d
Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 This bill increases the number of residency positions eligible for graduate medical education payments under Medicare for hospitals that have addiction or pain management programs, with an aggregate increase of 1,000 positions over a five-year period.
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Congress.gov source codes: 1000, Intro-H
Bills with similar content found using semantic analysis.
Sources: Congress.gov
2020 · fourth_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets"; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support S. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; Discuss DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes; Concerns with HR 5800,Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bill to address surprise medical bills that relies on a median in-network rate to resolve out-of-network payments and allows for an independent dispute resolution process to determine the final payment. Concerned with the Committee's legislative approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers, which could have significant consequences far beyond the scope of surprise medical bills. It is the insurers' responsibility to maintain comprehensive provider networks, and a default payment rate would remove incentives for health plans to contract with providers or to offer fair terms; Support HR 5826, Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, a bill that prohibits providers from balance billing patients for emergency services or medical care the patient reasonably could have expected to be in-network, and from charging patients more than the in-network cost-sharing amount. Rather than rely on a benchmark payment rate to determine out-of-network reimbursement, the legislation provides a period for health plans and providers to negotiate out-of-network reimbursement, followed by a mediated dispute resolution process if necessary; Letter urging HHS to take regulatory actions to help hospitals and health systems prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter requesting $100 billion to prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter urging the Department of Labor to accurately define health care provider when promulgating regulations implementing key sections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; Letter sent to the President asking for the use of the Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies and equipment; Letter to HHS regarding $100 billion emergency fund, asking HHS and CMS to directly and expediently distribute to rural and urban hospitals and health systems funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that were designated for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act increased funding by $100 billion in order to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. In the letter, we urged HHS and CMS to immediately distribute funding to all hospital types in the US - with additional funding going to COVID-19 hotspots; Letter urging Congress to modernize the Stafford Act as part of its next COVID-19 legislative package to allow all hospitals to recoup financial losses from this pandemic and future disasters; Letter to the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting they, as primary federal regulators for insured depository institutions, take prompt action to assist health care providers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic should the need to do so arise; Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Chair of the Board of Governors urging a supplement to the New Main Street Loan Facility term sheet with prompt guidance to ensure that access to this critically-necessary loan facility will be attainable for hospitals without delay; Letter was sent to the SBA urging it to ensure that small- and mid-size public hospitals, including those that have both nonprofit and public designations, are allowed to apply for and receive loans under the newly-authorized SBA Paycheck Protection Program; Letter in response to FEMAs request for input on establishing a voluntary agreement, under the Defense Production Act, of key private sector stakeholders relevant to responding to COVID-19, urging that such an agreement account for the full breadth of COVID-19 medical supply and equipment needs; Support H.R. 6474/S.3838 Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act, a bill that would provide an additional $2 billion in funding for the FCC Rural Health Care program and increase the subsidy for health care providers from 65 to 85 percent. This legislation also simplifies the program to allow for more efficient application processes and disbursement of much needed funding; Support HR 6654 Emergency COVID-19 Telehealth Response Act, a bill that would codify an expanded list of providers to deliver and bill for telehealth services during the PHE; Support HR 7233Knowing the Efficiency and Efficacy of Permanent (KEEP) Telehealth Options Act of 2020, a bill that would require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies to provide information about the expanded use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; Letter to Senate HELP Committee in response to request for feedback on preparing for next pandemic; Discussion about telehealth waivers and flexibilities with HHS; Discussion about CARES provider relief fund distributions with HHS; Oppose HR 6559/ S 3677 COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020, a bill to require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to promulgate an emergency temporary standard to protect employees from occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and for other purposes; Joint letter with ANA urging Congress to act quickly to get needed resources into the health care system, so that hospitals, nurses and physicians responding to COVID-19 are able to continue to provide treatments, front-line health care personnel are able to provide care and patients are able access health care services; Statement to Committee on Ways and Means for the hearing on The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color urging Congress to employ the resources of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities - which is congressionally-mandated to coordinate the research of the other National Institutes of Healths centers and institutes related to minority health - to research and develop approaches to specifically address the COVID-19 needs of minority populations; Advocate with Congress for full forgiveness of COVID-19 related accelerated payments received by hospitals; Support S 3781Pharmaceutical Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency (PART) Act, a bill to increase reporting of, help mitigate potential shortages related to, and promote, accountability and transparency for pharmaceuticals and medical devices; Support S 3780 Help Onshore Manufacturing Efficiencies (HOME) for Drugs and Devices Act, a bill to encourage domestic advanced manufacturing of critical drugs and devices in order to address economic, health, and security concerns, combat shortages of critical drugs and devices, and promote increased domestic diversification of, and independence from foreign reliance on, pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains; Support S.3763 Pandemic Responder Service Award Act, a bill to establish the Pandemic Responder Service Award program to express our gratitude to front-line health care workers; Support HR 6788/ S 3599 Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, a bill to enhance our Nations nurse and physician workforce during the COVID-19 crisis by recapturing unused immigrant visas; Urged support for joint House and Senate letter to the Administration asking for flexibility for hospitals with respect to J-1 and H-1B visa programs; Letter to Senate Finance Committee to address the important issue of maternal health and the opportunity to provide suggestions regarding how to improve maternal health in this country; Support the Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure Access to Treatment Act, a bill that allows for the temporary reciprocity for treatment by medical professionals licensed in one state to patients in other states; Letter urging the Senate to include in the next COVID-19 relief bill provisions to strengthen the federal response for racial and ethnic minority and marginalized communities, which are disproportionately affected by the pandemic;Letter asking Congress to allocate as part of the next COVID-19 relief package at least an additional $100 billion to the emergency relief fund to provide direct funding to front line health care personnel and providers to continue to respond to this pandemic; Letter sent to HHS urging them to direct HRSA to take action to stop three drug manufacturers from limiting the distribution of 340B drugs to 340B covered entities. These drug manufacturers have taken separate actions to either limit the distribution of 340B drugs or require 340B covered entities provide claims level data for investigatory purposes if that 340B covered entity uses a contract pharmacy arrangement; Letter to the Congressional Leadership asking them to not to include in the next COVID-19 relief package any surprise medical billing legislation - such as a reimbursement rate set in statute - that would further destabilize hospitals finances during the pandemic; Support S 4507, Getting Early Treatment and Comprehensive Assessments Reduces Emergencies Act of 2020 or the GET CARE Act of 2020, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of seeking preventive health services and the utilization of such services; Comment letter addressing concerns on the proposed rule from the Departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services that would allow certain grandfathered health plans to increase patient cost-sharing beyond current limits, without losing their grandfathered status; Letter urging the Administration to work with the AHA and Congress to create a future for telehealth that allows not only clinicians, but also hospitals and health systems, to code and bill for virtual services. We further urge CMS and HHS to continue to provide hospitals with the flexibility for annual beneficiary consent to telehealth treatment to be obtained at the same time, and not necessarily before, services are furnished; Support HR 8061,Community Immunity During COVID-19 Act of 2020, a bill that would provide funding to state and local health departments to work with community providers and organizations to increase immunization rates for Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-recommended vaccines during the COVID-19 public health emergency; Letter again expressing concern with recent actions taken by several major drug manufacturers to limit the distribution of certain 340B drugs to our hospital members. While we understand that the HRSA is further investigating these actions, we urge swift and decisive action to halt these pernicious tactics so as to prevent other manufacturers from following suit; Comment letter outlining our concerns about the ability of hospital systems to distribute provider relief funds among the parent and subsidiaries. HHS published certain FAQs that place problematic restrictions on the use of CARES Act provider relief fund dollars. Specifically, the FAQs restrict the ability of a hospital system to allocate the funds throughout its system where COVID-19 related expenses and lost revenues are occurring; Submitted comments in response to HRSAs RFI on Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) scoring. HPSA scores are important for rural hospitals and clinics ability to recruit physicians and other clinicians, namely from the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program. Letter asking HHS to reinstate the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements; Support S 4349, Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, a bill to address behavioral health and well-being among health care professionals; Support S. 3595Ensuring Understanding of COVID-19 to Protect Public Health Act, a bill that directs the NIH to conduct a longitudinal study on mild, moderate, and severe cases of COVID-19 on a diverse patient population.
Client expense: $4,460,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2020 · fourth_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
Issue: Support repeal or a delay in the implementation of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts Issue: Educate Congress on concerns related to potentially burdensome Medicaid supplemental payment reporting proposals Issue: Educate Congress on the negative impact of the proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR) and urge the administration to withdraw or delay the proposal Issue: ACA Medicaid expansion. Maintain commitment to match State spending on medical care for Medicaid beneficiaries without limits, caps, or block grants. Maintain and enforce network adequacy requirements and mandate sufficient payments to providers. S. 1343, Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services (MOMMIES) Act Issue: Support expansion of Medicaid and CHIP coverage for postpartum women from current 90 days to 1 year. S. 585, States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2019 Issue: Support legislation to allow states that expanded Medicaid after 2014 to receive the same full federal matching funds as states that previously expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act H.R. 1763 / S. 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 Issue: Support additional Medicare funding for graduate medical education H.R. 3414 / H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act Issue: Support additional Medicare funding for graduate medical education for addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine residency programs S. 289, Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2019 Issue: Oppose legislation redesigning Medicare GME payment formulas that reduce current DGME/IME payments to teaching hospitals H.R. 8892, Rural-Urban Physician Workforce Act of 2020 Issue: Support improvements to Rural Training Track programs. H.R.1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 H.R. 3417, Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization (BETTER) Act Issue: Support Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) per resident amount and cap-setting technical corrections and administrative relief. Issues: Support lifting cap on number of residents Medicare will count when determining teaching hospitals' Medicare Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) and Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments Issue: Oppose reduction of Medicare GME/IME payments Issue: Oppose redesign of Medicare Indirect Medical Education financing and redistribution. Issue: Oppose reduction in Medicare hospital outpatient department reimbursement. Issue: Oppose Medicare hospital cuts Issue: Oppose overly burdensome Medicaid GME transparency language. Issue: Support technical correction to increase access to physician services in rural communities by allowing teaching hospitals to count resident time spent in critical access hospitals for purposes of Medicare GME payments. H.R. 5432, Medical Education for a Diverse America Act Issue: Ensure that time medical residents spend in unconscious bias training is counted toward the determination of FTE for Medicare GME Issue: Educate Congress on role of academic medicine as it relates to price transparency or disclosure initiatives H.R. 3107, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 Issue: Support protecting patients from delays in care by streamlining and standardizing prior authorization under the Medicare Advantage program and providing program oversight and transparency Issue: Modify CMS Hospital Compare Star Ratings to allow stakeholders time to work together to address concerns with methodology. Support inclusion of sociodemographic status as part of quality programs HHS Rebate Rule Medicare Part D benefit re-design Issue: Support policies to reduce prescription drug prices Issue: Support implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) interoperability and health data sharing provisions. Issue: Support changes and improvements to the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Issue: Support necessary changes and improvements to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) S. 1343, Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancements of Services (MOMMIES) Act H.R. 4996, Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services (MOMS) Act of 2020 Issue: Support expansion of Medicaid coverage for postpartum women. H.R. 8702 Holding Providers Harmless from Medicare Cuts During COVID-19 Act of 2020 Issue: Support relief for providers from pending evaluation and management cuts included in the CY 2021 Physician Fee Schedule (PSF) rule. H.R. 8840 Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act Issue: Support extension of Medicare sequester. Issue: Oppose efforts by states to impose work or other community engagement activities as a requirement for continued Medicaid eligibility or coverage for certain Medicaid beneficiaries. Issue: Support making permanent the CMS policy allowing teaching physicians to provide supervision via real-time, interactive audio/video technology to meet resident supervision requirements. Issue: Support making permanent the interim final rule that allows hospitals that unknowingly trigger their Medicare GME caps and per resident amounts to not have that happen and instead retain the ability to build a new resident cap / PRA so long as the cap / PRA is not above a minimum amount. Issue: Support CMS introducing new regulations to make permanent the interim final rule that ensures teaching hospitals that increased their number of inpatient beds to accommodate the surge in patients during the public health emergency to not have their Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments reduced by CMS. Issue: Oppose CMS hospital price transparency rule. Issue: Oppose site-neutral expansion to excepted off-campus provider-based departments (PBDs). Issue: Support waiving budget neutrality requirements associated with the E/M code changes or temporarily holding harmless physicians and other health care professionals. Issue: Oppose Hospital co-location draft guidance. Issue: Oppose finalizing proposed rule for Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT) and definition of reasonable and necessary. Issue: Oppose enforcement of linking Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP) compliance with requiring that hospitals report 38 COVID-19 related measures. Issue: Support continuation of the 3-Day Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Stay waiver after the conclusion of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Issue: Oppose finalizing prior authorization policy in CY 2020 for certain HOPD services and in CY 2021 to include new service categories. Issue: Oppose efforts to remove five exclusion criteria that would allow over 270 new procedures to be performed in ASC settings in CY 2021. Issue: Oppose the elimination of the Inpatient Only List over a three-year period Issue: Oppose policy of incorporating revenue distinctions into the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
2020 · fourth_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
340B Drug Discount Program H.R. 1763, S. 348 - Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act Graduate Medical Education Disproportionate Share Hospital payments Childrens Health Insurance Program Medicare Dependent Hospital Program (MDH) Medicaid Low Volume Payments (LV) Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Extension Inpatient Prospective Payment System Outpatient Prospective Payment System Bad debt/charity care Hospital Outpatient Department payments H.R. 2439, S. 2892 - Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 1358 - Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 S. 4160 - To maintain hospital 340B eligibility during the COVID-19 public health emergency S. 4160, H.R. 7838 - 340B Pandemic Eligibility Waiver bill CMS Accelerated and Advanced Payments COVID-19 Relief
Client expense: $80,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2020 · third_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
Issue: Support repeal or a delay in the implementation of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts Issue: Educate Congress on concerns related to potentially burdensome Medicaid supplemental payment reporting proposals Issue: Educate Congress on the negative impact of the proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR) and urge the administration to withdraw or delay the proposal Issue: ACA Medicaid expansion. Maintain commitment to match State spending on medical care for Medicaid beneficiaries without limits, caps, or block grants. Maintain and enforce network adequacy requirements and mandate sufficient payments to providers. S. 1343, Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services (MOMMIES) Act Issue: Support expansion of Medicaid and CHIP coverage for postpartum women from current 90 days to 1 year. H.R. 4996, Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services (MOMS) Act of 2020 Issue: Support expansion of Medicaid coverage for postpartum women. S. 585, States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2019 Issue: Support legislation to allow states that expanded Medicaid after 2014 to receive the same full federal matching funds as states that previously expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act H.R. 1763, S. 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 Issue: Support additional Medicare funding for graduate medical education H.R. 3414, H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act Issue: Support additional Medicare funding for graduate medical education for addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine residency programs Issues: Support lifting cap on number of residents Medicare will count when determining teaching hospitals' Medicare Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) and Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments Issue: Oppose reduction of Medicare GME/IME payments Issue: Oppose redesign of Medicare Indirect Medical Education financing and redistribution. S. 289, Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2019 Issue: Oppose legislation redesigning Medicare GME payment formulas that reduce current DGME/IME payments to teaching hospitals H.R.1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 H.R. 3417, Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization (BETTER) Act Issue: Support Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) per resident amount and cap-setting technical corrections and administrative relief. Issue: Oppose reduction in Medicare hospital outpatient department reimbursement. Issue: Oppose Medicare hospital cuts Issue: Oppose overly burdensome Medicaid GME transparency language. Issue: Support technical correction to increase access to physician services in rural communities by allowing teaching hospitals to count resident time spent in critical access hospitals for purposes of Medicare GME payments. H.R. 5432, Medical Education for a Diverse America Act Issue: Ensure that time medical residents spend in unconscious bias training is counted toward the determination of FTE for Medicare GME Issue: Educate Congress on role of academic medicine as it relates to price disclosure initiatives H.R. 3107, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 Issue: Support protecting patients from delays in care by streamlining and standardizing prior authorization under the Medicare Advantage program and providing program oversight and transparency Issue: Modify CMS Hospital Compare Star Ratings to allow stakeholders time to work together to address concerns with methodology. Support inclusion of sociodemographic status as part of quality programs HHS Rebate Rule Medicare Part D benefit re-design Issue: Support policies to reduce prescription drug prices Issue: Support implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) interoperability and health data sharing provisions. Issue: Support changes and improvements to the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Issue: Support necessary changes and improvements to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Issue: Support nominees for MedPAC
2020 · third_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
340B Drug Discount Program H.R. 1763, S. 348 - Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act Graduate Medical Education Disproportionate Share Hospital payments Childrens Health Insurance Program Medicare Dependent Hospital Program (MDH) Medicaid Low Volume Payments (LV) Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Extension Inpatient Prospective Payment System Outpatient Prospective Payment System Bad debt/charity care Hospital Outpatient Department payments H.R. 2439, S. 2892 - Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 1358 - Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 S. 4160 - To maintain hospital 340B eligibility during the COVID-19 public health emergency S. 4160, H.R. 7838 - 340B Pandemic Eligibility Waiver bill
Client expense: $90,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
| Republican |
| PA |
| Chris Pappas | Democratic | NH |
| Chrissy Houlahan | Democratic | PA |
| David J. Trone | Democratic | MD |
| Derek Kilmer | Democratic | WA |
| Eliot L. Engel | Democratic | NY |
| Elise M. Stefanik | Republican | NY |
| Elissa Slotkin | Democratic | MI |
| John Katko | Republican | NY |
| Joseph D. Morelle | Democratic | NY |
| Karen Bass | Democratic | CA |
| Kathleen M. Rice | Democratic | NY |
| Katie Hill | Democratic | CA |
| Mark DeSaulnier | Democratic | CA |
| Max Rose | Democratic | NY |
| Nydia M. Velázquez | Democratic | NY |
| Paul Tonko | Democratic | NY |
| Peter T. King | Republican | NY |
| Raja Krishnamoorthi | Democratic | IL |
| Sean Patrick Maloney | Democratic | NY |
| Susan W. Brooks | Republican | IN |
| Susan Wild | Democratic | PA |
Client expense: $1,035,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Education, Dept of, Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Natl Drug Control Policy (NDCP), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Vice President of the United States, SENATE, State, Dept of (DOS), Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Treasury, Dept of, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
Client expense: $1,095,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Education, Dept of, Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Natl Drug Control Policy (NDCP), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Vice President of the United States, SENATE, State, Dept of (DOS), Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Treasury, Dept of, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2020 · third_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support S. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; Discuss DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes; Concerns with HR 5800,Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bill to address surprise medical bills that relies on a median in-network rate to resolve out-of-network payments and allows for an independent dispute resolution process to determine the final payment. Concerned with the Committee's legislative approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers, which could have significant consequences far beyond the scope of surprise medical bills. It is the insurers' responsibility to maintain comprehensive provider networks, and a default payment rate would remove incentives for health plans to contract with providers or to offer fair terms; Support HR 5826, Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, a bill that prohibits providers from balance billing patients for emergency services or medical care the patient reasonably could have expected to be in-network, and from charging patients more than the in-network cost-sharing amount. Rather than rely on a benchmark payment rate to determine out-of-network reimbursement, the legislation provides a period for health plans and providers to negotiate out-of-network reimbursement, followed by a mediated dispute resolution process if necessary; Letter urging HHS to take regulatory actions to help hospitals and health systems prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter requesting $100 billion to prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter urging the Department of Labor to accurately define health care provider when promulgating regulations implementing key sections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; Letter sent to the President asking for the use of the Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies and equipment; Letter to HHS regarding $100 billion emergency fund, asking HHS and CMS to directly and expediently distribute to rural and urban hospitals and health systems funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that were designated for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act increased funding by $100 billion in order to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. In the letter, we urged HHS and CMS to immediately distribute funding to all hospital types in the US - with additional funding going to COVID-19 hotspots; Letter urging Congress to modernize the Stafford Act as part of its next COVID-19 legislative package to allow all hospitals to recoup financial losses from this pandemic and future disasters; Letter to the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting they, as primary federal regulators for insured depository institutions, take prompt action to assist health care providers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic should the need to do so arise; Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Chair of the Board of Governors urging a supplement to the New Main Street Loan Facility term sheet with prompt guidance to ensure that access to this critically-necessary loan facility will be attainable for hospitals without delay; Letter was sent to the SBA urging it to ensure that small- and mid-size public hospitals, including those that have both nonprofit and public designations, are allowed to apply for and receive loans under the newly-authorized SBA Paycheck Protection Program; Letter in response to FEMAs request for input on establishing a voluntary agreement, under the Defense Production Act, of key private sector stakeholders relevant to responding to COVID-19, urging that such an agreement account for the full breadth of COVID-19 medical supply and equipment needs; Support H.R. 6474/S.3838 Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act, a bill that would provide an additional $2 billion in funding for the FCC Rural Health Care program and increase the subsidy for health care providers from 65 to 85 percent. This legislation also simplifies the program to allow for more efficient application processes and disbursement of much needed funding; Support HR 6654 Emergency COVID-19 Telehealth Response Act, a bill that would codify an expanded list of providers to deliver and bill for telehealth services during the PHE; Support HR 7233Knowing the Efficiency and Efficacy of Permanent (KEEP) Telehealth Options Act of 2020, a bill that would require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies to provide information about the expanded use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; Letter to Senate HELP Committee in response to request for feedback on preparing for next pandemic; Discussion about telehealth waivers and flexibilities with HHS; Discussion about CARES provider relief fund distributions with HHS; Oppose HR 6559/ S 3677 COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020, a bill to require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to promulgate an emergency temporary standard to protect employees from occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and for other purposes; Joint letter with ANA urging Congress to act quickly to get needed resources into the health care system, so that hospitals, nurses and physicians responding to COVID-19 are able to continue to provide treatments, front-line health care personnel are able to provide care and patients are able access health care services; Statement to Committee on Ways and Means for the hearing on The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color urging Congress to employ the resources of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities - which is congressionally-mandated to coordinate the research of the other National Institutes of Healths centers and institutes related to minority health - to research and develop approaches to specifically address the COVID-19 needs of minority populations; Advocate with Congress for full forgiveness of COVID-19 related accelerated payments received by hospitals; Support S 3781Pharmaceutical Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency (PART) Act, a bill to increase reporting of, help mitigate potential shortages related to, and promote, accountability and transparency for pharmaceuticals and medical devices; Support S 3780 Help Onshore Manufacturing Efficiencies (HOME) for Drugs and Devices Act, a bill to encourage domestic advanced manufacturing of critical drugs and devices in order to address economic, health, and security concerns, combat shortages of critical drugs and devices, and promote increased domestic diversification of, and independence from foreign reliance on, pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains; Support S.3763 Pandemic Responder Service Award Act, a bill to establish the Pandemic Responder Service Award program to express our gratitude to front-line health care workers; Support HR 6788/ S 3599 Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, a bill to enhance our Nations nurse and physician workforce during the COVID-19 crisis by recapturing unused immigrant visas; Urged support for joint House and Senate letter to the Administration asking for flexibility for hospitals with respect to J-1 and H-1B visa programs; Letter to Senate Finance Committee to address the important issue of maternal health and the opportunity to provide suggestions regarding how to improve maternal health in this country; Support the Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure Access to Treatment Act, a bill that allows for the temporary reciprocity for treatment by medical professionals licensed in one state to patients in other states; Letter urging the Senate to include in the next COVID-19 relief bill provisions to strengthen the federal response for racial and ethnic minority and marginalized communities, which are disproportionately affected by the pandemic;Letter asking Congress to allocate as part of the next COVID-19 relief package at least an additional $100 billion to the emergency relief fund to provide direct funding to front line health care personnel and providers to continue to respond to this pandemic; Letter sent to HHS urging them to direct HRSA to take action to stop three drug manufacturers from limiting the distribution of 340B drugs to 340B covered entities. These drug manufacturers have taken separate actions to either limit the distribution of 340B drugs or require 340B covered entities provide claims level data for investigatory purposes if that 340B covered entity uses a contract pharmacy arrangement; Letter to the Congressional Leadership asking them to not to include in the next COVID-19 relief package any surprise medical billing legislation - such as a reimbursement rate set in statute - that would further destabilize hospitals finances during the pandemic; Support S 4507, Getting Early Treatment and Comprehensive Assessments Reduces Emergencies Act of 2020 or the GET CARE Act of 2020, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of seeking preventive health services and the utilization of such services; Comment letter addressing concerns on the proposed rule from the Departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services that would allow certain grandfathered health plans to increase patient cost-sharing beyond current limits, without losing their grandfathered status; Letter urging the Administration to work with the AHA and Congress to create a future for telehealth that allows not only clinicians, but also hospitals and health systems, to code and bill for virtual services. We further urge CMS and HHS to continue to provide hospitals with the flexibility for annual beneficiary consent to telehealth treatment to be obtained at the same time, and not necessarily before, services are furnished; Support HR 8061,Community Immunity During COVID-19 Act of 2020, a bill that would provide funding to state and local health departments to work with community providers and organizations to increase immunization rates for Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-recommended vaccines during the COVID-19 public health emergency; Letter again expressing concern with recent actions taken by several major drug manufacturers to limit the distribution of certain 340B drugs to our hospital members. While we understand that the HRSA is further investigating these actions, we urge swift and decisive action to halt these pernicious tactics so as to prevent other manufacturers from following suit; Comment letter outlining our concerns about the ability of hospital systems to distribute provider relief funds among the parent and subsidiaries. HHS published certain FAQs that place problematic restrictions on the use of CARES Act provider relief fund dollars. Specifically, the FAQs restrict the ability of a hospital system to allocate the funds throughout its system where COVID-19 related expenses and lost revenues are occurring; Submitted comments in response to HRSAs RFI on Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) scoring. HPSA scores are important for rural hospitals and clinics ability to recruit physicians and other clinicians, namely from the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program. Letter asking HHS to reinstate the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements.
Client expense: $4,860,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2020 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
340B Drug Discount Program H.R. 1763, S. 348 - Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act Graduate Medical Education Disproportionate Share Hospital payments Childrens Health Insurance Program Medicare Dependent Hospital Program (MDH) Medicaid Low Volume Payments (LV) Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Extension Inpatient Prospective Payment System Outpatient Prospective Payment System Bad debt/charity care Hospital Outpatient Department payments H.R. 2439, S. 2892 - Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 1358 - Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 S. 4160 - To maintain hospital 340B eligibility during the COVID-19 public health emergency
Client expense: $80,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2020 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
Issue: Support repeal or a delay in the implementation of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts Issue: Educate Congress on concerns related to potentially burdensome Medicaid supplemental payment reporting proposals Issue: Educate Congress on the negative impact of the proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR) and urge the administration to withdraw or delay the proposal Issue: ACA Medicaid expansion. Maintain commitment to match State spending on medical care for Medicaid beneficiaries without limits, caps, or block grants. Maintain and enforce network adequacy requirements and mandate sufficient payments to providers. S. 1343, Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services (MOMMIES) Act Issue: Support expansion of Medicaid and CHIP coverage for postpartum women from current 90 days to 1 year. S. 585, States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2019 Issue: Support legislation to allow states that expanded Medicaid after 2014 to receive the same full federal matching funds as states that previously expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act H.R. 1763, S. 348, Resident Shortage Physician Reduction Act of 2019 Issue: Support additional Medicare funding for graduate medical education H.R. 3414, H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act Issue: Support additional funding for graduate medical education for addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine residency programs Issues: Support lifting cap on number of residents Medicare will count when determining teaching hospitals' Medicare Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) and Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments Issue: Oppose reduction of Medicare GME/IME payments Issue: Oppose redesign of Medicare Indirect Medical Education financing and redistribution. S. 289, Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2019 Issue: Oppose legislation redesigning Medicare GME payment formulas that reduce current DGME/IME payments to teaching hospitals H.R.1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 H.R. 3417, Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization (BETTER) Act Issue: Support Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) per resident amount and cap-setting technical corrections and administrative relief. Issue: Oppose reduction in Medicare hospital outpatient department reimbursement. Issue: Oppose Medicare hospital cuts Issue: Oppose overly burdensome Medicaid GME transparency language. Issue: Support technical correction to increase access to physician services in rural communities by allowing teaching hospitals to count resident time spent in critical access hospitals for purposes of Medicare GME payments. H.R. 5432, Medical Education for a Diverse America Act Issue: Ensure that time medical residents spend in unconscious bias training is counted toward the determination of FTE for Medicare GME Issue: Educate Congress on role of academic medicine as it relates to price transparency initiatives H.R. 3107, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 Issue: Support protecting patients from delays in care by streamlining and standardizing prior authorization under the Medicare Advantage program and providing program oversight and transparency Issue: Modify CMS Hospital Compare Star Ratings to allow stakeholders time to work together to address concerns with methodology. Support inclusion of sociodemographic status as part of quality programs HHS Rebate Rule Medicare Part D benefit re-design Issue: Support policies to reduce prescription drug prices Issue: Support implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) interoperability and health data sharing provisions. Issue: Support changes and improvements to the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Issue: Support necessary changes and improvements to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Issue: Support nominees for MedPAC
Client expense: $1,316,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Education, Dept of, Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Natl Drug Control Policy (NDCP), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Vice President of the United States, SENATE, State, Dept of (DOS), Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Treasury, Dept of, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2020 · second_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support S. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; Discuss DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes; Concerns with HR 5800,Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bill to address surprise medical bills that relies on a median in-network rate to resolve out-of-network payments and allows for an independent dispute resolution process to determine the final payment. Concerned with the Committee's legislative approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers, which could have significant consequences far beyond the scope of surprise medical bills. It is the insurers' responsibility to maintain comprehensive provider networks, and a default payment rate would remove incentives for health plans to contract with providers or to offer fair terms; Support HR 5826, Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, a bill that prohibits providers from balance billing patients for emergency services or medical care the patient reasonably could have expected to be in-network, and from charging patients more than the in-network cost-sharing amount. Rather than rely on a benchmark payment rate to determine out-of-network reimbursement, the legislation provides a period for health plans and providers to negotiate out-of-network reimbursement, followed by a mediated dispute resolution process if necessary; Letter urging HHS to take regulatory actions to help hospitals and health systems prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter requesting $100 billion to prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter urging the Department of Labor to accurately define health care provider when promulgating regulations implementing key sections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; Letter sent to the President asking for the use of the Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies and equipment; Letter to HHS regarding $100 billion emergency fund, asking HHS and CMS to directly and expediently distribute to rural and urban hospitals and health systems funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that were designated for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act increased funding by $100 billion in order to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. In the letter, we urged HHS and CMS to immediately distribute funding to all hospital types in the US - with additional funding going to COVID-19 hotspots; Letter urging Congress to modernize the Stafford Act as part of its next COVID-19 legislative package to allow all hospitals to recoup financial losses from this pandemic and future disasters; Letter to the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting they, as primary federal regulators for insured depository institutions, take prompt action to assist health care providers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic should the need to do so arise; Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Chair of the Board of Governors urging a supplement to the New Main Street Loan Facility term sheet with prompt guidance to ensure that access to this critically-necessary loan facility will be attainable for hospitals without delay; Letter was sent to the SBA urging it to ensure that small- and mid-size public hospitals, including those that have both nonprofit and public designations, are allowed to apply for and receive loans under the newly-authorized SBA Paycheck Protection Program; Letter in response to FEMAs request for input on establishing a voluntary agreement, under the Defense Production Act, of key private sector stakeholders relevant to responding to COVID-19, urging that such an agreement account for the full breadth of COVID-19 medical supply and equipment needs; Support H.R. 6474/S.3838 Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act, a bill that would provide an additional $2 billion in funding for the FCC Rural Health Care program and increase the subsidy for health care providers from 65 to 85 percent. This legislation also simplifies the program to allow for more efficient application processes and disbursement of much needed funding; Support HR 6654 Emergency COVID-19 Telehealth Response Act, a bill that would codify an expanded list of providers to deliver and bill for telehealth services during the PHE; Support HR 7233Knowing the Efficiency and Efficacy of Permanent (KEEP) Telehealth Options Act of 2020, a bill that would require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies to provide information about the expanded use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; Letter to Senate HELP Committee in response to request for feedback on preparing for next pandemic; Discussion about telehealth waivers and flexibilities with HHS; Discussion about CARES provider relief fund distributions with HHS; Oppose HR 6559/ S 3677 COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020, a bill to require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to promulgate an emergency temporary standard to protect employees from occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and for other purposes; Joint letter with ANA urging Congress to act quickly to get needed resources into the health care system, so that hospitals, nurses and physicians responding to COVID-19 are able to continue to provide treatments, front-line health care personnel are able to provide care and patients are able access health care services; Statement to Committee on Ways and Means for the hearing on The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color urging Congress to employ the resources of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities - which is congressionally-mandated to coordinate the research of the other National Institutes of Healths centers and institutes related to minority health - to research and develop approaches to specifically address the COVID-19 needs of minority populations; Advocate with Congress for full forgiveness of COVID-19 related accelerated payments received by hospitals; Support S 3781Pharmaceutical Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency (PART) Act, a bill to increase reporting of, help mitigate potential shortages related to, and promote, accountability and transparency for pharmaceuticals and medical devices; Support S 3780 Help Onshore Manufacturing Efficiencies (HOME) for Drugs and Devices Act, a bill to encourage domestic advanced manufacturing of critical drugs and devices in order to address economic, health, and security concerns, combat shortages of critical drugs and devices, and promote increased domestic diversification of, and independence from foreign reliance on, pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains; Support S.3763 Pandemic Responder Service Award Act, a bill to establish the Pandemic Responder Service Award program to express our gratitude to front-line health care workers; Support HR 6788/ S 3599 Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, a bill to enhance our Nations nurse and physician workforce during the COVID-19 crisis by recapturing unused immigrant visas; Urged support for joint House and Senate letter to the Administration asking for flexibility for hospitals with respect to J-1 and H-1B visa programs; Letter to Senate Finance Committee to address the important issue of maternal health and the opportunity to provide suggestions regarding how to improve maternal health in this country; Support the Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure Access to Treatment Act, a bill that allows for the temporary reciprocity for treatment by medical professionals licensed in one state to patients in other states.
Client expense: $4,260,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2020 · first_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
Issue: Support repeal or a delay in the implementation of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts Issue: Educate Congress on concerns related to potentially burdensome Medicaid supplemental payment reporting proposals Issue: Educate Congress on the negative impact of the proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation (MFAR) and urge the administration to withdraw or delay the proposal Issue: ACA Medicaid expansion. Maintain commitment to match State spending on medical care for Medicaid beneficiaries without limits, caps, or block grants. Maintain and enforce network adequacy requirements and mandate sufficient payments to providers. S. 1343, Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services (MOMMIES) Act Issue: Support expansion of Medicaid and CHIP coverage for postpartum women from current 90 days to 1 year. S. 585, States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2019 Issue: Support legislation to allow states that expanded Medicaid after 2014 to receive the same full federal matching funds as states that previously expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act H.R. 1763 / S. 348, Resident Shortage Physician Reduction Act of 2019 Issue: Support additional Medicare funding for graduate medical education H.R. 3414 / H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act Issue: Support additional funding for graduate medical education for addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine residency programs Issues: Support lifting cap on number of residents Medicare will count when determining teaching hospitals' Medicare Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) and Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments Issue: Oppose reduction of Medicare GME/IME payments Issue: Oppose redesign of Medicare Indirect Medical Education financing and redistribution. S. 289, Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2019 Issue: Oppose legislation redesigning Medicare GME payment formulas that reduce current DGME/IME payments to teaching hospitals H.R.1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 H.R. 3417, Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization (BETTER) Act Issue: Support Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) per resident amount and cap-setting technical corrections and administrative relief. Issue: Oppose reduction in Medicare hospital outpatient department reimbursement. Issue: Oppose Medicare hospital cuts Issue: Oppose overly burdensome Medicaid GME transparency language. Issue: Support technical correction to increase access to physician services in rural communities by allowing teaching hospitals to count resident time spent in critical access hospitals for purposes of Medicare GME payments. H.R. 5432, Medical Education for a Diverse America Act Issue: Ensure that time medical residents spend in unconscious bias training is counted toward the determination of FTE for Medicare GME Issue: Educate Congress on role of academic medicine as it relates to price transparency initiatives H.R. 3107, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 Issue: Support protecting patients from delays in care by streamlining and standardizing prior authorization under the Medicare Advantage program and providing program oversight and transparency Issue: Modify CMS Hospital Compare Star Ratings to allow stakeholders time to work together to address concerns with methodology. Support inclusion of sociodemographic status as part of quality programs HHS Rebate Rule Medicare Part D benefit re-design Issue: Support policies to reduce prescription drug prices Issue: Support implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) interoperability and health data sharing provisions. Issue: Support changes and improvements to the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Issue: Support necessary changes and improvements to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA)
Client expense: $982,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Education, Dept of, Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Natl Drug Control Policy (NDCP), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Vice President of the United States, SENATE, State, Dept of (DOS), Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Treasury, Dept of, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2020 · first_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Comment letter urged CMS to extend the comment period for the proposed rules related to interoperability provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act by at least 30 days; Comment letter on the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) draft guidance on blood glucose monitoring test systems (BGMS) for prescription point-of-care (POC) use and urge FDA to consider compiling a finite list of universally acceptable disinfectant products that would apply to all medical devices or classes of device; Comment letter that urged CMS to address the substantial flaws in the star ratings methodology since the ratings inception in 2016 and to suspend the display of overall star ratings on Hospital Compare while the agency continues its important work of enhancing the validity and meaningfulness of star ratings; Comment letter to FDA on the public meeting, Identifying the Root Causes of Drug Shortages and Finding Enduring Solutions with the following legislative recommendations: Strengthen manufacturers drug shortage disclosure requirements, Incentivize manufacturing contingency plans and/or redundancies, Enhance production transparency requirements, Enact shortage disclosure notification requirements for certain medical devices needed to administer drugs, Assess drug shortages as a national security threat, Include potential risk for drug shortages as a factor in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reviews of drug company merger proposals, and regulatory recommendations: Establish incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce drugs in shortage, Prevent manufacturing shutdowns, Establish a quality manufacturing initiative, Enhance information on the quality of outsourcing facilities compounding, Expand and improve the FDAs drug shortages list, Develop a list of critical drugs, Consider how reducing the number of unapproved drugs1 on the market might impact shortages, Reduce drug waste, Create an Office of Clinical Affairs within the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Comment letter urging the CMS to use its upcoming proposed rules for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and other post-acute care providers to address several issues related to the implementation of the revised case-mix grouping (CMG) policies; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Support letter for the adoption of a unique patient identifier (UPI, by removing the prohibition on the use of federal funds to promulgate or adopt a national UPI would provide HHS the ability to explore solutions that link patients with their correct medical records; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support S. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes. Concerns with HR 5800,Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bill to address surprise medical bills that relies on a median in-network rate to resolve out-of-network payments and allows for an independent dispute resolution process to determine the final payment. Concerned with the Committee's legislative approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers, which could have significant consequences far beyond the scope of surprise medical bills. It is the insurers' responsibility to maintain comprehensive provider networks, and a default payment rate would remove incentives for health plans to contract with providers or to offer fair terms; Support HR 5826, Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, a bill that prohibits providers from balance billing patients for emergency services or medical care the patient reasonably could have expected to be in-network, and from charging patients more than the in-network cost-sharing amount. Rather than rely on a benchmark payment rate to determine out-of-network reimbursement, the legislation provides a period for health plans and providers to negotiate out-of-network reimbursement, followed by a mediated dispute resolution process if necessary; Letter urging HHS to take regulatory actions to help hospitals and health systems prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter requesting $100 billion to prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter urging the Department of Labor to accurately define health care provider when promulgating regulations implementing key sections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; Letter sent to the President today asking for the use of the Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies and equipment; Letter to HHS regarding $100 billion emergency fund, asking HHS and CMS to directly and expediently distribute to rural and urban hospitals and health systems funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that were designated for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act increased funding by $100 billion in order to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. In the letter, we urged HHS and CMS to immediately distribute funding to all hospital types in the US - with additional funding going to COVID-19 hotspots; Letter urging Congress to modernize the Stafford Act as part of its next COVID-19 legislative package to allow all hospitals to recoup financial losses from this pandemic and future disasters.
Client expense: $5,940,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2020 · first_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
General Medicaid/Medicare issues, Opioid Workforce Act (H.R. 2439), Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763/S. 348), Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 (S.2892), Issues related to surprise billing
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $90,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2020 · first_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
General Medicare and Medicaid issues, and funding for graduate medical education including the Opioid Workforce Act, H.R. 2439, and the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, H.R. 1763/S. 348. Federal COVID response, including Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (Public Law No. 116-123), Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law No. 116-127), Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136)
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $80,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2020 · first_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
340B Drug Discount Program H.R. 1763, S. 348 - Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act Graduate Medical Education Disproportionate Share Hospital payments Childrens Health Insurance Program Medicare Dependent Hospital Program (MDH) Medicaid Low Volume Payments (LV) Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Extension Inpatient Prospective Payment System Outpatient Prospective Payment System Bad debt/charity care Hospital Outpatient Department payments H.R. 2439, S. 2892 - Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 1358 - Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019
Client expense: $100,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2020 · first_quarter · Health Issues
S. 1563 - Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act: Provisions related to hospital funding for COVID-19 related patients costs. H.R. 6201 - Families First Act: Provisions related to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage increase. S.289 - The Rural-Urban Physician Workforce Act, S. 2892, H.R. 2439, H.R. 3414 - The Opioid Workforce Act; Issues related to the provision of additional graduate medical education positions. Issues related to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service proposed rule regarding Radiation Oncology Model and proton beam reimbursement. Issues related to surprise billing legislation.
Client expense: $30,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2020 · first_quarter · Health Issues
Issues related to prescription of opioids, including HR 2439, Opioid Workforce Act. Issues related to the cost of health coverage; Issues related to Surprise Billing;
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $30,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), SENATE
2019 · fourth_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
General Medicaid/Medicare issues, general surprise billing issues, Opioid Workforce Act (H.R. 2439), Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763/S. 348), Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 (S.2892), Medicare Star Rating Program
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $90,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · fourth_quarter · Health Issues
Issues related to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments. Issues related to 340B drug pricing. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service proposed rule regarding Radiation Oncology Model and proton beam reimbursement. S.289 - The Rural-Urban Physician Workforce Act, S. 2892, H.R. 2439, H.R. 3414 - The Opioid Workforce Act; Issues related to the provision of additional graduate medical education positions. Issues related to surprise billing legislation. Issues related to liver allocation.
Client expense: $40,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · fourth_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Comment letter urged CMS to extend the comment period for the proposed rules related to interoperability provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act by at least 30 days; Comment letter on the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) draft guidance on blood glucose monitoring test systems (BGMS) for prescription point-of-care (POC) use and urge FDA to consider compiling a finite list of universally acceptable disinfectant products that would apply to all medical devices or classes of device; Comment letter that urged CMS to address the substantial flaws in the star ratings methodology since the ratings inception in 2016 and to suspend the display of overall star ratings on Hospital Compare while the agency continues its important work of enhancing the validity and meaningfulness of star ratings; Comment letter to FDA on the public meeting, Identifying the Root Causes of Drug Shortages and Finding Enduring Solutions with the following legislative recommendations: Strengthen manufacturers drug shortage disclosure requirements, Incentivize manufacturing contingency plans and/or redundancies, Enhance production transparency requirements, Enact shortage disclosure notification requirements for certain medical devices needed to administer drugs, Assess drug shortages as a national security threat, Include potential risk for drug shortages as a factor in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reviews of drug company merger proposals, and regulatory recommendations: Establish incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce drugs in shortage, Prevent manufacturing shutdowns, Establish a quality manufacturing initiative, Enhance information on the quality of outsourcing facilities compounding, Expand and improve the FDAs drug shortages list, Develop a list of critical drugs, Consider how reducing the number of unapproved drugs1 on the market might impact shortages, Reduce drug waste, Create an Office of Clinical Affairs within the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Comment letter urging the CMS to use its upcoming proposed rules for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and other post-acute care providers to address several issues related to the implementation of the revised case-mix grouping (CMG) policies; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Support letter for the adoption of a unique patient identifier (UPI, by removing the prohibition on the use of federal funds to promulgate or adopt a national UPI would provide HHS the ability to explore solutions that link patients with their correct medical records; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support H.R. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes.
Client expense: $6,610,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2019 · fourth_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
NIH Funding Biomedical Research Medicaid DSH Payments 340B Drug Discount Program Opioid Workforce Act (HR2439)-increase residency positions eligible for GME for hospitals with addiction programs
Client expense: $110,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · fourth_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
340B Drug Discount Program H.R. 1763, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act Graduate Medical Education Disproportionate Share Hospital payments Childrens Health Insurance Program Medicare Dependent Hospital Program (MDH) Medicaid Low Volume Payments (LV) Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Extension Inpatient Prospective Payment System Outpatient Prospective Payment System Bad debt/charity care Hospital Outpatient Department payments S. 348, H.R. 1763, Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019
Client expense: $60,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · fourth_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
S.1895, Lower Health Care Costs Act; all provisions H.R. 3630, No Surprises Act; provisions related to surprise billing H.R. 2328, Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act; provisionts related to disproportionate share hospital funding H.R. 2439, The Opioid Workforce Act of 2019; provisions related to graduate medical education
Client expense: $110,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · fourth_quarter · Health Issues
Issues related to prescription of opioids, including HR 2439, Opioid Workforce Act. Issues related to the cost of health coverage; Issues related to Surprise Billing;
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $30,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), SENATE
2019 · fourth_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
General Medicaid/Medicare issues, general surprise billing issues, Opioid Workforce Act (H.R. 2439), Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763/S. 348), Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 (S.2892), Medicare Star Rating Program
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $90,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · fourth_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
General Medicare and Medicaid issues, and funding for graduate medical education including the Opioid Workforce Act, H.R. 2439, and the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, H.R. 1763/S. 348
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $80,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · third_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
General Medicaid/Medicare issues, general surprise billing issues, Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 2439, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 H.R. 1763/S. 348
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $90,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · third_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Comment letter urged CMS to extend the comment period for the proposed rules related to interoperability provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act by at least 30 days; Comment letter on the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) draft guidance on blood glucose monitoring test systems (BGMS) for prescription point-of-care (POC) use and urge FDA to consider compiling a finite list of universally acceptable disinfectant products that would apply to all medical devices or classes of device; Comment letter that urged CMS to address the substantial flaws in the star ratings methodology since the ratings inception in 2016 and to suspend the display of overall star ratings on Hospital Compare while the agency continues its important work of enhancing the validity and meaningfulness of star ratings; Comment letter to FDA on the public meeting, Identifying the Root Causes of Drug Shortages and Finding Enduring Solutions with the following legislative recommendations: Strengthen manufacturers drug shortage disclosure requirements, Incentivize manufacturing contingency plans and/or redundancies, Enhance production transparency requirements, Enact shortage disclosure notification requirements for certain medical devices needed to administer drugs, Assess drug shortages as a national security threat, Include potential risk for drug shortages as a factor in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reviews of drug company merger proposals, and regulatory recommendations: Establish incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce drugs in shortage, Prevent manufacturing shutdowns, Establish a quality manufacturing initiative, Enhance information on the quality of outsourcing facilities compounding, Expand and improve the FDAs drug shortages list, Develop a list of critical drugs, Consider how reducing the number of unapproved drugs1 on the market might impact shortages, Reduce drug waste, Create an Office of Clinical Affairs within the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Comment letter urging the CMS to use its upcoming proposed rules for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and other post-acute care providers to address several issues related to the implementation of the revised case-mix grouping (CMG) policies; Letter sent to the Congressional Telehealth Caucus with recommendations to improve and expand access to telehealth; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Submitted oral and written testimony to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Hearing: Lower Health Care Costs Act to express concerns about several proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers, which could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs and the impact on rural communities. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Support letter for the adoption of a unique patient identifier (UPI, by removing the prohibition on the use of federal funds to promulgate or adopt a national UPI would provide HHS the ability to explore solutions that link patients with their correct medical records; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants.
Client expense: $5,370,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2019 · third_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
Issues related to implementation of PPACA (Pub. L. No. 111 -148) that impact hospital funding, general Medicare and Medicaid issues, and funding for graduate medical education including the Opioid Workforce Act, H.R. 2439, and the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, H.R. 1763/S. 348
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $80,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · third_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
340B Drug Discount Program H.R. 1763, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act Graduate Medical Education Disproportionate Share Hospital payments Childrens Health Insurance Program Medicare Dependent Hospital Program (MDH) Medicaid Low Volume Payments (LV) Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Extension Inpatient Prospective Payment System Outpatient Prospective Payment System Bad debt/charity care Hospital Outpatient Department payments S. 348, H.R. 1763, Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019
Client expense: $80,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · third_quarter · Health Issues
Reauthorization of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). All titles of HR 2439, the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019.
Client expense: $90,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · third_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
S.1895, Lower Health Care Costs Act; all provisions H.R. 3630, No Surprises Act; provisions related to surprise billing H.R. 2328, Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act; provisionts related to disproportionate share hospital funding H.R. 2439, The Opioid Workforce Act of 2019; provisions related to graduate medical education
Client expense: $110,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · third_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
H.R. 2328, Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act of 2019 H.R. 3022, Patient Access Protection Act Issue: Support repeal or a delay in the implementation of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts Issue: Educate Congress on concerns related to potentially burdensome Medicaid supplemental payment reporting proposals Issue: ACA Medicaid expansion. Maintain commitment to match State spending on medical care for Medicaid beneficiaries without limits, caps, or block grants. Maintain and enforce network adequacy requirements and mandate sufficient payments to providers. S. 585, States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2019 Issue: Support legislation to allow states that expanded Medicaid after 2014 to receive the same full federal matching funds as states that previously expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act H.R. 1226 / S. 317, Advancing Care for Exceptional (ACE) Kids Act of 2019 Issue: Support legislation to improve health care for children with complex medical conditions on Medicaid H.R. 1763 / S. 348, Resident Shortage Physician Reduction Act of 2019 Issue: Support additional Medicare funding for graduate medical education H.R. 3414 / H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act Issue: Support additional funding for graduate medical education for addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine residency programs Issues: Support lifting cap on number of residents Medicare will count when determining teaching hospitals' Medicare Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) and Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments Issue: Oppose reduction of Medicare GME/IME payments Issue: Oppose redesign of Medicare Indirect Medical Education financing and redistribution. S. 289, Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2019 Issue: Oppose legislation redesigning Medicare GME payment formulas that reduce current DGME/IME payments to teaching hospitals H.R.1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 H.R. 3417, Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization (BETTER) Act Issue: Support Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) per resident amount and cap-setting technical corrections and administrative relief. Issue: Oppose reduction in Medicare hospital outpatient department reimbursement. Issue: Oppose Medicare hospital cuts Issue: Oppose overly burdensome Medicaid GME transparency language. Issue: Support technical correction to increase access to physician services in rural communities by allowing teaching hospitals to count resident time spent in critical access hospitals for purposes of Medicare GME payments. Issue: Educate Congress on role of academic medicine as it relates to price transparency initiatives H.R. 3107, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 Issue: Support protecting patients from delays in care by streamlining and standardizing prior authorization under the Medicare Advantage program and providing program oversight and transparency Issue: Modify CMS Hospital Compare Star Ratings to allow stakeholders time to work together to address concerns with methodology. Support inclusion of sociodemographic status as part of quality programs HHS Rebate Rule Medicare Part D benefit re-design Issue: Support policies to reduce prescription drug prices Issue: Support implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) interoperability and health data sharing provisions. Issue: Support changes and improvements to the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Issue: Support necessary changes and improvements to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA)
Client expense: $1,127,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Education, Dept of, Executive Office of the President (EOP), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Natl Drug Control Policy (NDCP), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), SENATE, Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Treasury, Dept of, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2019 · third_quarter · Health Issues
Issues related to prescription of opioids, including HR 2439, Opioid Workforce Act. Issues related to the cost of health coverage; Issues related to Surprise Billing;
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $30,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
General Medicaid/Medicare issues, eligibility for emergency transport demonstration, Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 2439, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 H.R. 1763/S. 348
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $90,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Comment letter urged CMS to extend the comment period for the proposed rules related to interoperability provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act by at least 30 days; Comment letter on the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) draft guidance on blood glucose monitoring test systems (BGMS) for prescription point-of-care (POC) use and urge FDA to consider compiling a finite list of universally acceptable disinfectant products that would apply to all medical devices or classes of device; Comment letter that urged CMS to address the substantial flaws in the star ratings methodology since the ratings inception in 2016 and to suspend the display of overall star ratings on Hospital Compare while the agency continues its important work of enhancing the validity and meaningfulness of star ratings; Comment letter to FDA on the public meeting, Identifying the Root Causes of Drug Shortages and Finding Enduring Solutions with the following legislative recommendations: Strengthen manufacturers drug shortage disclosure requirements, Incentivize manufacturing contingency plans and/or redundancies, Enhance production transparency requirements, Enact shortage disclosure notification requirements for certain medical devices needed to administer drugs, Assess drug shortages as a national security threat, Include potential risk for drug shortages as a factor in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reviews of drug company merger proposals, and regulatory recommendations: Establish incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce drugs in shortage, Prevent manufacturing shutdowns, Establish a quality manufacturing initiative, Enhance information on the quality of outsourcing facilities compounding, Expand and improve the FDAs drug shortages list, Develop a list of critical drugs, Consider how reducing the number of unapproved drugs1 on the market might impact shortages, Reduce drug waste, Create an Office of Clinical Affairs within the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Comment letter urging the CMS to use its upcoming proposed rules for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and other post-acute care providers to address several issues related to the implementation of the revised case-mix grouping (CMG) policies; Letter sent to the Congressional Telehealth Caucus with recommendations to improve and expand access to telehealth; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft has our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes Concerns S 1531 Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Submitted oral and written testimony to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Hearing: Lower Health Care Costs Act Concerns about several proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers, which could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs and the impact on rural communities. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Concerns S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations.
Client expense: $4,870,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2019 · second_quarter · Health Issues
Issues related to prescription of opioids, including HR 2439, Opioid Workforce Act. Issues related to the cost of health coverage; Issues related to Surprise Billing;
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $30,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
H.R. 2328, Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act of 2019 H.R. 3022, Patient Access Protection Act Issue: Support repeal or a delay in the implementation of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts Issue: ACA Medicaid expansion. Maintain commitment to match State spending on medical care for Medicaid beneficiaries without limits, caps, or block grants. Maintain and enforce network adequacy requirements and mandate sufficient payments to providers. S. 585, States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2019 Issue: Support legislation to allow states that expanded Medicaid after 2014 to receive the same full federal matching funds as states that previously expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act H.R. 1226 / S. 317, Advancing Care for Exceptional (ACE) Kids Act of 2019 Issue: Support legislation to improve health care for children with complex medical conditions on Medicaid H.R. 1763 / S. 348, Resident Shortage Physician Reduction Act of 2019 Issue: Support additional Medicare funding for graduate medical education H.R. 3414 / H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act Issue: Support additional funding for graduate medical education for addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain medicine residency programs Issues: Support lifting cap on number of residents Medicare will count when determining teaching hospitals' Medicare Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) and Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments S. 289, Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2019 Issue: Oppose legislation redesigning Medicare GME payment formulas Issue: Oppose reduction of Medicare GME/IME payments Issue: Oppose redesign of Medicare Indirect Medical Education financing and redistribution. H.R.1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 H.R. 3417, Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization (BETTER) Act Issue: Support Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) per resident amount and cap-setting technical corrections and administrative relief. Issue: Oppose reduction in Medicare hospital outpatient department reimbursement. Issue: Oppose Medicare hospital cuts Issue: Oppose overly burdensome Medicaid GME transparency language. Issue: Support technical correction to increase access to physician services in rural communities by allowing teaching hospitals to count resident time spent in critical access hospitals for purposes of Medicare GME payments. Issue: Educate Congress on role of academic medicine as it relates to price transparency initiatives Issue: Support aligning 42 CFR Part 2 regulations with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for the purposes of treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. Issue: Modify CMS Hospital Compare Star Ratings to allow stakeholders time to work together to address concerns with methodology. Support inclusion of sociodemographic status as part of quality programs HHS Rebate Rule Medicare Part D benefit re-design Issue: Support policies to reduce prescription drug prices
Client expense: $1,045,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Education, Dept of, Executive Office of the President (EOP), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Natl Drug Control Policy (NDCP), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), SENATE, Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2019 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
Issues related to implementation of PPACA (Pub. L. No. 111 -148) that impact hospital funding, general Medicare and Medicaid issues, and funding for graduate medical education including the Opioid Workforce Act, H.R. 2439, and the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, H.R. 1763/S. 348
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $80,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
340B Drug Discount Program Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act Graduate Medical Education Disproportionate Share Hospital payments Childrens Health Insurance Program Medicare Dependent Hospital Program (MDH) Medicaid Low Volume Payments (LV) Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Extension Inpatient Prospective Payment System Outpatient Prospective Payment System Bad debt/charity care Hospital Outpatient Department payments S. 348, H.R. 1763, Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019
Client expense: $80,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Health Issues
Medicare-Graduate Medical Education HRSA THCGME Program Community and Public Health Programs Extension Act (S. 192) Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, H.R. 1358 Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763/ S. 348) Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2019, S. 289 Training the Next Generation of Primary Care Doctors Act of 2019, S. 1191 / H.R. 2815 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 (H.R. 2439) Restoring Rural Residencies Act of 2019 (S. 1240) Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 (H.R. 3414)
Client expense: $62,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE, White House Office
2019 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
S.1895, Lower Health Care Costs Act; all provisions H.R. 3630, No Surprises Act; provisions related to surprise billing H.R. 2328, Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act; provisionts related to disproportionate share hospital funding H.R.3417, Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth and Extenders Reauthorization Act of 2019; provisions related to telehealth H.R. 2439, The Opioid Workforce Act of 2019; provisions related to graduate medical education
Client expense: $130,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
HR 2439, the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019.
Client expense: $80,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Office of the Vice President of the United States, SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Medicare/Medicaid
H.R. 2569, Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency Act of 2019, provisions relating to Medicaid H.R. 2113, Prescription Drug Sunshine, Transparency, Accountability and Reporting (STAR) Act, all provisions H.R. 3107, Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2019, all provisions H.R. 2282, Medicare Care Coordination Improvement Act of 2019, all provisions H.R. 2143, Promoting Integrity in Medicare Act (PIMA) of 2019, all provisions H.R. 1358, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, all provisions H.R. 1763, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, all provisions S. 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, all provisions H.R. 3302, Keep Physicians Serving Patients Act of 2019, all provisions H.R. 2439, Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, all provisions Medicare program: Drug Pricing Medicare program: Regulatory Relief Medicare program: Medicare for All Medicare program: Medicare coverage Medicare program: Physician self-referral and Civil Monetary Penalties Laws Medicare program: Fraud and Abuse Medicare program: Medicare Part D Medicare program: Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM)/Rx drug price transparency Medicare program: Physician payment and delivery reform Medicare program: Quality Payment Program Medicare program: Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Medicare program: Alternative Payment Models (APMs)/ Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) Medicare program: MACRA cost measure development Medicare program: Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Medicare program: Accountable Care Organizations Medicare program: Evaluation and Management codes and payment policies Medicare program: Digital Medicine Medicare program: Diabetes Prevention Program Medicare program: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring Medicare program: Open Payments/Sunshine Act Medicare program: Provider compliance Medicare program: Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS) Enrollment Medicare program: Quality Payment Program (QPP) Medicare and Medicaid programs: Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) implementation Medicare and Medicaid programs: Opioids/Substance use disorder Medicare and Medicaid programs: Telehealth Medicare and Medicaid programs: 21st Century Cures Act Medicare and Medicaid programs: Data blocking/Interoperability/patient access Medicare and Medicaid programs: Health IT burden Medicare and Medicaid programs: Pain management Medicare and Medicaid programs: Cybersecurity Medicaid program: Section 1115 Demonstration Waivers
Client expense: $4,740,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2019 · second_quarter · Health Issues
Concerns with various liver redistricting proposals from UNOS and HRSA Support for HR 7083 Access to Genetic Counseling Act Support for artificial intelligence (AI) as a means of providing diagnostic services in telehealth legislation, including the SEE MORE Act Support opioid research programs Support legislation regarding increased residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis, including HR 2439 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 Support for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCORI) reauthorization
Client expense: $50,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Defense, Dept of (DOD), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Health Issues
Resident Physcian Shortage Reduction Act Organ (liver) Transplant Allocation Site-Neutral Provider Reimbursement Graduate Medical Education (GME) HR 2439 - Opioid Workforce Act HR 3630 No Surprises Act S 1895 Lower Healthcare Costs Act
Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $50,000
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2019 · second_quarter · Health Issues
H.R. 269Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act S. 1379 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act H.R. 1398 Health Insurance Tax Relief Act S. 172 Health Insurance Tax Relief Act H.R. 1884 Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions and Making Health Care More Affordable Act H.R. 2062 Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety Act H.R. 2207 Protect Medical Innovation Act S. 692 Protect Medical Innovation Act H.R. 2439 Opioid Workforce Act H.R. 3414 Opioid Workforce Act H.R.2584 Preventive Health Savings Act S. 1361 Preventive Health Savings Act H.R. 3030 "Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Extension Act " H.R. 3417 Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization Act
Client expense: $160,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Executive Office of the President (EOP), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), SENATE