Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2023

Medicare Dental Benefit Act (H.R. 4146, S. 2012), Medicare Dental, Vision and Hearing Benefit Act (H.R. 33), Medicare Heart Aid Act (H.R. 244), Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Act 2.0 (S. 1687), Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act (S. 142).

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

Medicare Observation Stays. Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2023 (H.R. 5138): Proposals to count time spent in observation status toward the three-day prior inpatient stay required under Medicare for coverage of a subsequent stay in a skilled nursing facility. Medicare Drug Prices (No bill): Proposal to have the Biden Administration lower the price of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi through executive action by using so-called march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act; to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to grant eligible researchers access to drugs or biologic products for research purposes at a price no higher than the cost to the manufacturer; to block so-called Dispense-As-Written campaigns where drug manufacturers incentivize health care providers to specify a brand drug on a prescription to block generic substitution at the pharmacy. Medicare Drug Costs. Pharmaceutical Research Transparency Act of 2023 (S. 1476 and H.R. 3160): Proposal to amend the Public Health Service Act and the Security Exchange Act to require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report their costs related to clinical trials and research and development. Medicare Drug Savings. Seniors Securing Access to Vital and Essential Prescription Drugs Act (H.R. 2893): Proposals to discount the treatment of eligible retirement plans in determining the eligibility of individuals for premium and cost sharing subsidies under Part D of the Medicare program. (No bills): Proposals to eliminate the Medicare Part D low-income subsidy programs asset test and raise the income eligibility levels to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Drug Costs. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug makers, cap prices at inflation in Part B and D, cap beneficiary out-of-pocket costs in Part D, eliminate cost-sharing for vaccines, eliminate cost-sharing in the catastrophic phase of Part D, and to raise the income threshold for the Low-Income Subsidy program offering assistance in paying for drugs. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Affordable Pricing for Taxpayer-Funded Prescription Drugs Act of 2023 (H.R. 3093): Proposals to require companies that receive federal funding for research (or a license of the rights to a patent or regulatory test data) for a biomedical product or service to agree to set reasonable prices for the resulting biomedical product or service and authorize to determine a reasonable price based on a formula that ensures the U.S. price for the product or service is not more than the median price for the product or service in Canada and six other reference countries. Medicare Prescription Drugs. (No bill): A regulatory proposal encouraging the Secretaries of the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Commerce to exercise march in rights that would aim to better control the pricing of prescription drugs. Medicare Prescription Drugs. (No bill): An HHS regulatory proposal to ensure robust negotiation rules and processes that aim to curtail the cost of certain prescription drugs, as authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. Medicare Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) Program. (No bill): Proposal to increase funding for LIS outreach and enrollment, so that low-income beneficiaries can more readily access needed medications at prices they can afford. Medicare Reform. Assuring Medicares Promise Act (H.R. 34) and Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act (S. 1174 and H.R. 4535): Proposals to close the loophole for wealthy individuals who bypass paying net investment income tax (NIIT) and directing the revenue to the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, which pays for Medicare Part A that covers inpatient care in hospitals, and to the Social Security Trust Funds. Medicare Dental Coverage. Medicare Dental Benefit Act (S. 2012 and H.R. 4146): Proposal to add a dental benefit to Medicare. Medicare Hearing Coverage. The Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2021 (H.R. 244): Proposal to expand Medicare coverage to include hearing aids and services for seniors under Medicare Part B. Medicare call center (No bill): Proposal to address the poor working conditions of the call center workers employed by Maximus, a federal contractor with the Department of Health and Humans Services/Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) HHS/CMS. Public Health Emergency (No bill): Proposals to ensure the transition out of the public health emergency doesnt create enrollment or coverage gaps for Medicare eligible individuals. Medicare Advantage (MA). (No bill): Proposals to create transparency around Medicare Advantage plans using prior authorization and supplemental benefits that are not offered under traditional Medicare. Medicare Advantage. (No bill): Proposals to apply a higher coding adjustment factor to fully account for intensive upcoding by MA plans and to exclude certain information for MA risk adjustment scores and payments; to use two years of traditional Medicare and MA diagnostic data for calculating MA risk-adjusted payments; and to promulgate more fundamental changes to the Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) risk adjustment model. Medicare Privatization (No bill): Proposals to create reimbursement policies in traditional Medicare that mimic those used by private health insurance plans. Medicaid Home And Community-Based Services. HCBS Access Act (H.R. 1493 and S. 762): Proposals to make home and community-based services (HCBS) a mandatory benefit within Medicaid, and to ensure eligible older adults and people with disabilities have the option to choose between home care and institutional care. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Homes. Nursing Home Disclosure Act (H.R. 177): Proposal to direct HHS to establish a national registry of medical directors. Medicare, Medicaid Nursing Homes. Protecting Americas Seniors Access to Care Act (H.R. 7513): Proposal to prohibit the HHS Secretary from promulgating national staffing standards in nursing homes. Medicare, Medicaid Nursing Homes, Assisted Living and Other LTSS Settings. Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act (No bill number): Proposal to increase the number of direct care professionals, including in rural communities; pathways to enter and be supported in the workforce for women, people of color, and people with disabilities; and to improve compensation for direct care professionals to reduce vacancies and turnover. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Home Ownership. (No bill): A proposed final HHS regulation for comprehensive ownership disclosure in the nursing home sector issued on November 17th, 2023. Rule calls for strengthened cost reporting requirements, together with ongoing national analyses and monitoring of the performance of the nursing home sector that uses ownership, staffing, cost report data and inspection data. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Home Staffing. (No bill): A proposed CMS final regulations for establishing national staffing standards in nursing homes that would safeguard the health and safety of all elderly and disabled residents. Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS). (No bill): Proposal to request that CMS collect standardized LTSS expenditure data annually from every state and across all LTSS programs and for disaggregation of expenditure data by the delivery system and demographic characteristics in order to identify disparities in access and use of LTSS and help states and CMS deploy targeted strategies to meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities.

Medicare Observation Stays. Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2023 (H.R. 5138): Proposals to count time spent in observation status toward the three-day prior inpatient stay required under Medicare for coverage of a subsequent stay in a skilled nursing facility. Medicare Drug Prices (No bill): Proposal to have the Biden Administration lower the price of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi through executive action by using so-called march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act; to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to grant eligible researchers access to drugs or biologic products for research purposes at a price no higher than the cost to the manufacturer; to block so-called Dispense-As-Written campaigns where drug manufacturers incentivize health care providers to specify a brand drug on a prescription to block generic substitution at the pharmacy. Medicare Drug Costs. Pharmaceutical Research Transparency Act of 2023 (S. 1476 and H.R. 3160): Proposal to amend the Public Health Service Act and the Security Exchange Act to require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report their costs related to clinical trials and research and development. Medicare Drug Savings. Seniors Securing Access to Vital and Essential Prescription Drugs Act (H.R. 2893): Proposals to discount the treatment of eligible retirement plans in determining the eligibility of individuals for premium and cost sharing subsidies under Part D of the Medicare program. (No bills): Proposals to eliminate the Medicare Part D low-income subsidy programs asset test and raise the income eligibility levels to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Drug Costs. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug makers, cap prices at inflation in Part B and D, cap beneficiary out-of-pocket costs in Part D, eliminate cost-sharing for vaccines, eliminate cost-sharing in the catastrophic phase of Part D, and raise the income threshold for the low-income subsidy. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Affordable Pricing for Taxpayer-Funded Prescription Drugs Act of 2023 (H.R. 3093): Proposes to require companies that receive federal funding for research (or a license of the rights to a patent or regulatory test data) for a biomedical product or service to agree to set reasonable prices for the resulting biomedical product or service and authorize to determine a reasonable price based on a formula that ensures the U.S. price for the product or service is not more than the median price for the product or service in Canada and six other reference countries with, based on specified criteria, large economies and high incomes. Medicare Prescription Drugs. (No bill) Supported an administrative proposal encouraging the Secretaries of the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Commerce to exercise march in rights that would aim to better control the pricing of prescription drugs. Medicare Prescription Drugs. (No bill) Supported HHS promulgating robust negotiation rules and processes that aim to curtail the cost of certain prescription drugs, as authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. Medicare Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) Program. (No bill) Supported increased funding for LIS outreach and enrollment, so that low-income beneficiaries can more readily access needed medications at prices they can afford. Medicare Reform. Assuring Medicares Promise Act (H.R. 34) and Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act (S. 1174 and H.R 4535): Proposals to close the loophole for wealthy individuals who bypass paying net investment income tax (NIIT) and directing the revenue to the Hospital Insurance Fund, which pays for Medicare Part A that covers inpatient care in hospitals, and to the Social Security Trust Funds. Medicare Dental Coverage. Medicare Dental Benefit Act (S. 2012 and H.R. 4146): Proposal to add a dental benefit to Medicare. Medicare Hearing Coverage. The Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2021 (H.R. 244): Proposal to expand Medicare coverage to include hearing aids and services for seniors under Part B of the Medicare program. Medicare call center (No bill): Proposal to address the poor working conditions of the call center workers employed by Maximus, a federal contractor with the Department of Health and Humans Services/Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) HHS/CMS. Public Health Emergency (No bill): Proposals to ensure the transition out of the public health emergency doesnt create enrollment or coverage gaps for Medicare eligible individuals. Medicare Advantage. (No bill): Proposals to create transparency around Medicare Advantage plans using prior authorization and supplemental benefits that are not offered under traditional Medicare. Medicare Privatization (No bill): Proposals to create reimbursement policies in traditional Medicare that mimic those used by private health insurance plans. Medicaid Home And Community-Based Services. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposals to expand Medicaid home and community-based services and the Medicare savings programs. Medicaid Home And Community-Based Services. HCBS Access Act (H.R. 1493 and S. 762). Proposals to make home and community-based services (HCBS) a mandatory benefit within Medicaid, and to ensure eligible older adults and people with disabilities have the option to choose between home care and institutional care. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Homes. Nursing Home Disclosure Act (H.R. 177). Proposal to direct HHS to establish a national registry of medical directors. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Home Ownership. (No bill) Supporting the final HHS regulations for comprehensive ownership disclosure in the nursing home sector issued on November 17th, 2023. Calling for strengthened cost reporting requirements, together with ongoing national analyses and monitoring of the performance of the nursing home sector that uses ownership, staffing, cost report data and inspection data. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Home Staffing. (No bill) Support for CMS to promulgate improved final regulations for establishing national staffing standards in nursing homes that would safeguard the health and safety of all elderly and disabled residents. Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS). (No bill): To request that CMS collect standardized LTSS expenditure data annually from every state and across all LTSS programs and for disaggregation of expenditure data by the delivery system and demographic characteristics in order to identify disparities in access and use of LTSS and help states and CMS deploy targeted strategies to meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities.

Medicare Dental Benefit Act (H.R. 4146, S. 2012), Medicare Dental, Vision and Hearing Benefit Act (H.R. 33), Medicare Heart Aid Act (H.R. 244), Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Act 2.0 (S. 1687), Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act (S. 142).

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

Medicare Observation Stays. Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2023 (H.R. 5138): Proposals to count time spent in observation status toward the three-day prior inpatient stay required under Medicare for coverage of a subsequent stay in a skilled nursing facility. Medicare Drug Prices (No bill): Proposal to have the Biden Administration lower the price of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi through executive action by using so-called march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act; to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to grant eligible researchers access to drugs or biologic products for research purposes at a price no higher than the cost to the manufacturer; to block so-called Dispense-As-Written campaigns where drug manufacturers incentivize health care providers to specify a brand drug on a prescription to block generic substitution at the pharmacy. Medicare Drug Costs. Pharmaceutical Research Transparency Act of 2023 (S. 1476 and H.R. 3160): Proposal to amend the Public Health Service Act and the Security Exchange Act to require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report their costs related to clinical trials and research and development. Medicare Drug Savings. Seniors Securing Access to Vital and Essential Prescription Drugs Act (H.R. 2893): Proposals to discount the treatment of eligible retirement plans in determining the eligibility of individuals for premium and cost sharing subsidies under Part D of the Medicare program. (No bills): Proposals to eliminate the Medicare Part D low-income subsidy programs asset test and raise the income eligibility levels to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Drug Costs. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug makers, cap prices at inflation in Part B and D, cap beneficiary out-of-pocket costs in Part D, eliminate cost-sharing for vaccines, eliminate cost-sharing in the catastrophic phase of Part D, and raise the income threshold for the low-income subsidy. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Affordable Pricing for Taxpayer-Funded Prescription Drugs Act of 2023 (H.R. 3093): Proposes to require companies that receive federal funding for research (or a license of the rights to a patent or regulatory test data) for a biomedical product or service to agree to set reasonable prices for the resulting biomedical product or service and authorize to determine a reasonable price based on a formula that ensures the U.S. price for the product or service is not more than the median price for the product or service in Canada and six other reference countries with, based on specified criteria, large economies and high incomes. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Supported an administrative proposal encouraging the Secretaries of the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Commerce to exercise march in rights that would aim to better control the pricing of prescription drugs. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Supported HHS promulgating robust negotiation rules and processes that aim to curtail the cost of certain prescription drugs, as authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. Medicare Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) Program. Supported increased funding for LIS outreach and enrollment, so that low-income beneficiaries can more readily access needed medications at prices they can afford. Medicare Reform. Assuring Medicares Promise Act (H.R. 34) and Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act (S. 1174 and H.R 4535): Proposals to close the loophole for wealthy individuals who bypass paying net investment income tax (NIIT) and directing the revenue to the Hospital Insurance Fund, which pays for Medicare Part A that covers inpatient care in hospitals, and to the Social Security Trust Funds. Medicare Dental Coverage. Medicare Dental Benefit Act (S. 2012 and H.R. 4146): Proposal to add a dental benefit to Medicare. Medicare Hearing Coverage. The Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2021 (H.R. 244): Proposal to expand Medicare coverage to include hearing aids and services for seniors under Part B of the Medicare program. Medicare call center (No bill): Proposal to address the poor working conditions of the call center workers employed by Maximus, a federal contractor with the Department of Health and Humans Services/Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) HHS/CMS. Public Health emergency (No bill): Proposals to ensure the transition out of the public health emergency doesnt create enrollment or coverage gaps for Medicare eligible individuals. Medicare Advantage. (No bill): Proposals to create transparency around Medicare Advantage plans use of prior authorization and supplemental benefits that are not offered under traditional Medicare. Medicare Privatization (No bill): Proposals to create reimbursement policies in traditional Medicare that mimic those used by private health insurance plans. Medicaid Home And Community-Based Services. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposals to expand Medicaid home and community-based services and the Medicare savings programs. Medicaid Home And Community-Based Services. HCBS Access Act (H.R. 1493 and S. 762). Proposals to make home and community-based services (HCBS) a mandatory benefit within Medicaid, and to ensure eligible older adults and people with disabilities have the option to choose between home care and institutional care. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Homes. Nursing Home Disclosure Act (H.R. 177). Proposal to direct HHS to establish a national registry of medical directors. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Home Ownership. (No bill) Supporting the strengthening of proposed HHS regulations for comprehensive ownership disclosure in the nursing home sector, and for national safe staffing standards. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Home Staffing. Support for CMS to promulgate improved final regulations for establishing national staffing standards in nursing homes that would safeguard the health and safety of all elderly and disabled residents. Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS). (No bill): To request that CMS collect standardized LTSS expenditure data annually from every state and across all LTSS programs and for disaggregation of expenditure data by the delivery system and demographic characteristics in order to identify disparities in access and use of LTSS and help states and CMS deploy targeted strategies to meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities.

Medicare Dental Benefit Act (H.R. 4146, S. 2012), Medicare Dental, Vision and Hearing Benefit Act (H.R. 33), Medicare Heart Aid Act (H.R. 244), Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Act 2.0 (S. 1687), Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act (S. 142).

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

Medicare Observation Stays. (No bill): Proposals to count time spent in observation status toward the three-day prior inpatient stay required under Medicare for coverage of a subsequent stay in a skilled nursing facility. Medicare Drug Prices (No bill): Proposal to have the Biden Administration lower the price of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi through executive action by using so-called march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act; to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to grant eligible researchers access to drugs or biologic products for research purposes at a price no higher than the cost to the manufacturer; to block so-called Dispense-As-Written campaigns where drug manufacturers incentivize health care providers to specify a brand drug on a prescription to block generic substitution at the pharmacy. These campaigns increase drug spending by encouraging overuse of brand drugs when cheaper, equally effective generic alternative is available; and to reduce the period after Food and Drug Administration approval where a brand manufacturer could exclusively market their drug in the United States from 12 years to five years. This reduced exclusivity period would hasten the introduction of lower cost biosimilars to the market, helping bring down cost for consumers. Medicare Drug Costs. Pharmaceutical Research Transparency Act of 2023 (S. 1476 and H.R. 3160): Proposal to amend the Public Health Service Act and the Security Exchange Act to require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report their costs related to clinical trials and research and development. Medicare Drug Savings. Seniors Securing Access to Vital and Essential Prescription Drugs Act (H.R. 2893): Proposals to discount the treatment of eligible retirement plans in determining the eligibility of individuals for premium and cost sharing subsidies under Part D of the Medicare program. (No bills): Proposals to eliminate the Medicare Part D low-income subsidy programs asset test and raise the income eligibility levels to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Drug Costs. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug makers, cap prices at inflation in Part B and D, cap beneficiary out-of-pocket costs in Part D, eliminate cost-sharing for vaccines, eliminate cost-sharing in the catastrophic phase of Part D, and raise the income threshold for the low-income subsidy. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Affordable Pricing for Taxpayer-Funded Prescription Drugs Act of 2023 (H.R. 3039): Proposes to require companies that receive federal funding for research (or a license of the rights to a patent or regulatory test data) for a biomedical product or service to agree to set reasonable prices for the resulting biomedical product or service and authorize to determine a reasonable price based on a formula that ensures the U.S. price for the product or service is not more than the median price for the product or service in Canada and six other reference countries with, based on specified criteria, large economies and high incomes. Medicare Reform. Assuring Medicares Promise Act (H.R. 34): Proposal to close the loophole for wealthy individuals to bypass paying net investment income tax (NIIT) and would direct the revenue to the Hospital Insurance Fund, which pays for Medicare Part A that covers inpatient care in hospitals. Medicare Dental Coverage. Medicare Dental Benefit Act (S. 2012): Proposal to add a dental benefit to Medicare. Medicare Hearing Coverage. The Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2021 (H.R. 244): Proposal to expand Medicare coverage to include hearing aids and services for seniors under Part B of the Medicare program. Medicare call center (No bill): Proposal to address the poor working conditions of the call center workers employed by Maximus, a federal contractor with the Department of Health and Humans Services/Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) HHS/CMS. Public Health emergency (No bill): Proposals to ensure the transition out of the public health emergency doesnt create enrollment or coverage gaps for Medicare eligible individuals. Medicare Advantage. (No bill): Proposals to create transparency around Medicare Advantage plans use of prior authorization and supplemental benefits that are not offered under traditional Medicare. Medicare Privatization (No bill): Proposals to create reimbursement policies in traditional Medicare that mimic those used by private health insurance plans. Medicaid Home And Community-Based Services. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposals to expand Medicaid home and community-based services and the Medicare savings programs. Medicaid Home And Community-Based Services. HCBS Access Act (H.R. 1493 and S. 762). Proposals to make home and community-based services (HCBS) a mandatory benefit within Medicaid, and to ensure eligible older adults and people with disabilities have the option to choose between home care and institutional care. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Homes. Nursing Home Disclosure Act (H.R. 177). Proposal to direct HHS to establish a national registry of medical directors. Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Home Ownership. (No bill) Supporting the strengthening of proposed HHS regulations for comprehensive ownership disclosure in the nursing home sector, and for national safe staffing standards. Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS). (No bill): To request that CMS collect standardized LTSS expenditure data annually from every state and across all LTSS programs and for disaggregation of expenditure data by the delivery system and demographic characteristics in order to identify disparities in access and use of LTSS and help states and CMS deploy targeted strategies to meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities.

Medicare Observation Stays. The Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act (No bill): Proposals to count time spent in observation status toward the three-day prior inpatient stay required under Medicare for coverage of a subsequent stay in a skilled nursing facility. Drug Costs (No bill): Proposal to have the Biden Administration lower the price of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi through executive action by using so-called march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act. Drug Costs. Pharmaceutical Research and Transparency Act (No bill): Proposal to amend the Public Health Service Act and the Security Exchange Act to require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report their costs related to clinical trials and research and development. Drug Costs. Discounted Drugs for Clinical Trials Act (No bill): Proposal to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to grant eligible researchers access to drugs or biologic products for research purposes at a price no higher than the cost to the manufacturer. Drug Costs. Generic Substitution Non-Interference Act (No bill): Proposal would block so-called Dispense-As-Written campaigns where drug manufacturers incentivize health care providers to specify a brand drug on a prescription to block generic substitution at the pharmacy. These campaigns increase drug spending by encouraging overuse of brand drugs when cheaper, equally effective generic alternative is available. Drug Costs. The Price Relief, Innovation and Competition for Essential Drugs (PRICED) Act, (No bill): Proposal to reduce the period after Food and Drug Administration approval where a brand manufacturer could exclusively market their drug in the United States from 12 years to five years. This reduced exclusivity period would hasten the introduction of lower cost biosimilars to the market, helping bring down costs for consumers. Drug Savings. Seniors Securing Access to Vital and Essential Prescription Drugs Act (No bill): Proposals to discount the treatment of eligible retirement plans in determining the eligibility of individuals for premium and cost sharing subsidies under Part D of the Medicare program. The Lowering Medicare Premiums and Prescription Drug Costs Act (No bill): Proposals to eliminate the Medicare Part D low-income subsidy programs asset test and raise the income eligibility levels to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicare Prescription Drugs. Drug Costs. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug makers, cap prices at inflation in Part B and D, cap beneficiary out-of-pocket costs in Part D, eliminate cost-sharing for vaccines, eliminate cost-sharing in the catastrophic phase of Part D, and raise the income threshold for the low-income subsidy. Medicare Prescription Drug Prices. Affordable Pricing for Taxpayer-Funded Prescription Drugs Act (No bill): Proposals to require companies that receive federal funding for research (or a license of the rights to a patent or regulatory test data) for a biomedical product or service to agree to set reasonable prices for the resulting biomedical product or service and authorize to determine a reasonable price based on a formula that ensures the U.S. price for the product or service is not more than the median price for the product or service in Canada and six other reference countries with, based on specified criteria, large economies and high incomes; and requires companies entering these agreements to report to HHS certain financial information related to the biomedical product or service involved. Medicare Reform. Assuring Medicares Promise Act (H.R. 34): Proposal to close the loophole for wealthy individuals to bypass paying net investment income tax (NIIT) and would direct the revenue to the Hospital Insurance Fund, which pays for Medicare Part A that covers inpatient care in hospitals. Medicare Dental Coverage. Medicare Dental Benefit Act (No bill): Proposal to add a dental benefit to Medicare. Medicare Hearing Coverage. The Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2023 (H.R. 244): Proposal to expand Medicare coverage to include hearing aids and services for seniors under Part B of the Medicare program. Medicare call center (No bill): Proposal to address the poor working conditions of the call center workers employed by Maximus, a federal contractor with Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)/Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Public Health emergency (No bill): Proposals to ensure the transition out of the public health emergency doesnt create enrollment or coverage gaps for Medicare eligible individuals. Medicare Advantage. Seniors Timely Access to Care Act (No bill): Proposal to create transparency around Medicare Advantage plans use of prior authorization and supplemental benefits that are not offered under traditional Medicare. Medicare Advantage. Medicare Advantage Consumer Protection and Transparency Act (No bill): Proposal to create transparency around Medicare Advantage plans use of prior authorization. Medicare Privatization (No bill): Proposals to create reimbursement policies in traditional Medicare that mimic those used by private health insurance plans. Medicaid/Medicaid. Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law No: 117-169): Proposals to expand Medicaid home and community-based services and the Medicare savings programs. Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services. HCBS Access Act (H.R. 1493 and S. 762): Proposes to make home and community-based services (HCBS) a mandatory benefit within Medicaid, and to ensure eligible older adults and people with disabilities have the option to choose between home care and institutional care. Nursing Homes. Nursing Home Disclosure Act (H.R. 177): Proposals to establish a national registry of medical directors. Nursing Homes. (No bill): Proposals for HHS to issue regulations for comprehensive ownership disclosure in the nursing home sector, and for national safe staffing standards. Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS). (No bill): Proposals for CMS to collect standardized LTSS expenditure data annually from every state and across all LTSS programs, disaggregation of expenditure data by the delivery system and demographic characteristics in order to identify disparities in access and use of LTSS and help states and for CMS to deploy targeted strategies to meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities.