House leaders plan votes this week on reauthorizing rural health and telehealth programs, as well as a proposed directive on lung cancer research. Legislation to be taken up under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority for passage, includes H.R. 2493, which would reauthorize rural health care grants through fiscal 2030, and has been unanimously approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Grants for setting up telehealth networks would be reauthorized through fiscal 2030 and the annual cap on funding would be raised to $42.1 million from the current $29 million under H.R. 3419, which Energy and Commerce advanced in a 48-0 vote.
Committee Activity This Week
The Senate is in session Monday through Friday, and the House is in session Monday through Thursday.
The House Ways and Means held a full committee hearing April 20 focused on Medicare fraud. The hearing examined the prevalence of fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare and efforts to combat fraud to protect patients and taxpayers. Witnesses included Dr. Lynn Ianni, Ph.D., Medicare beneficiary and Medicare fraud victim, Ms. Sheila Clark, President and CEO, California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, Mr. David Klebonis, CEO, Palm Beach ACO, Mr. Christopher Deery, Director of Corporate and Financial Investigations, Independence Blue Cross, and Ms. Kristi Martin, Principal, Highway 136 Consulting.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify before Congress again this week, focusing on President Trump’s proposed budget, which seeks to slash the department by $15.8 billion in fiscal 2027 and reorganize several agencies into an Administration for a Healthy America. He appeared before the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee and the Senate appropriators’ Labor-HHS subcommittee on Tuesday, and will go before Senate Finance at 10 am and Senate HELP at 2 pm on Wednesday.
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