The Senate on June 28 failed to pass a $1.1 billion Zika funding package.
The funding proposal fell short of the president’s $1.9 billion initial request and the measure included controversial policy riders that Democrats opposed.
In other news, Patrick Conway, MD, the acting principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, testified before the Senate Committee on Finance about the proposed Medicare Part B demonstration project. The proposal is intended to curb spending on high-cost drugs when more affordable options are available, but both Democrats and Republicans have strongly opposed it. America’s Essential Hospitals issued a statement in May expressing the association’s concerns with the proposal.
Meanwhile, the House stands in recess this week after wrapping up a short week after a Democratic sit-in on the House floor to protest Republican’s unwillingness to vote on gun control legislation.