Members of Congress, now home in their districts for a pre-election recess, wrapped up a busy September of health care–related hearings and markups, including meetings on drug prices, cybersecurity, and site-neutral payment cuts.
On Sept. 24, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on Novo Nordisk’s pricing for obesity drugs. Committee Democrats criticized Novo Nordisk and claimed the company prioritizes profits over patient access to medications. Several members pointed out that high drug prices disproportionately affect lower-income and uninsured patients.
Committee Republicans focused on balancing the need for affordable medication with the importance of fostering innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. Republicans also acknowledged the need to explore options to lower out-of-pocket costs for patients, particularly through reforms to the insurance system and pharmacy benefit managers.
Cybersecurity Bill
On Sept. 26, Senate Committee on Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) announced legislation to improve cybersecurity in the U.S. health care system, amid an increase in cyberattacks that have breached patient privacy and caused major disruptions to care across the country.
The bill, the “Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act,” would require the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and enforce a set of tough minimum cybersecurity standards for health care providers, health plans, clearinghouses, and business associates, including stronger standards for systemically important entities and entities important for national security. The bill also would remove the existing cap on fines under HIPAA, which prevents regulators from issuing fines large enough to deter large corporations from ignoring cybersecurity standards; and would provide funding for hospitals to improve cybersecurity, particularly low-resource hospitals in rural and urban areas.
“We appreciate that this bill recognizes the significant costs of cybersecurity and would provide federal support,” America’s Essential Hospitals Vice President of Legislative Affairs Jason Pray said in a media statement. “But we are concerned the proposed penalties would disproportionately harm essential hospitals, which have fewer resources available for the work this bill would require.”
Site-Neutral Payments Update
At a Sept. 18 mark-up, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce unanimously passed the Telehealth Modernization Act, which contains Republican-backed site-neutral cuts as an offset for spending under the bill. It would require that each off-campus hospital outpatient department of a provider be assigned a separate unique health identifier from its provider. This language is concerning, due to an increased administrative burden on hospitals. This provision was not included in the version of the Telehealth Modernization Act that passed the House Committee on Ways and Means earlier this year; instead, that committee used a delay in clinical lab payments as its offset.
Appropriations
President Joe Biden has signed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through Dec. 20. It is a clean CR, including only basic provisions.
Committee Activity This Week
The House and Senate are out for an October recess and will return Nov. 11.
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