LAWMAKERS EYE DOC PAY REFORM — Bipartisan lawmakers in both chambers are mulling ways to change how doctors are paid under Medicare, according to three congressional staffers granted anonymity to discuss future legislative plans, POLITICO’s Daniel Payne reports. Their goal is to end the yearly process in which CMS proposes pay cuts based on a formula Congress mandated decades ago, followed by doctors lobbying lawmakers to stop them. Lawmakers reached a tentative agreement to end most of this year’s pay cut over the weekend. A bipartisan Senate group formed last month plans to solicit ideas from stakeholders. The group aims to have legislative text this summer, one of the aides said. In the House, the Ways and Means Committee is mulling a bill by Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) to allow CMS more leeway in setting payment rates, according to a staffer with knowledge of the discussions. HEALTH CARE HITS THE FLOOR — Although the government funding package that’s expected to get a House vote Wednesday remains the primary focus for many, several health care bills are set for a vote on the House floor today. The bills are slated to be taken up under suspension of the rules, meaning they’ll need a two-thirds vote to pass. They haven’t been controversial so far. The bills under consideration include: — A measure that would require Customs and Border Protection to review and update its policies related to inspections at ports of entry, aimed at preventing fentanyl from being brought into the U.S. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent last June. — Legislation that aims to boost cybersecurity collaboration with HHS at the 988 mental health crisis hotline, which a cyberattack disrupted in late 2022. It unanimously advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee last March. — Measures that would reauthorize funding for state-based maternal mortality review committees through fiscal 2028, state grant programs for dental care and a pediatric research program through NIH. All have unanimously moved out of E&C. — Legislation to encourage direct primary-care arrangements in Medicaid, which unanimously advanced through E&C. IN THE COMMITTEES — There’s some committee action in both chambers to watch this week, too. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has a hearing scheduled Wednesday on the White House’s pandemic preparedness and response. Dr. Paul Friedrichs, director of the White House's Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, will testify. The Senate Budget Committee is set to meet Wednesday on “how primary care improves health care efficiency.” Witnesses include professors and a physician group official. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on the Older Americans Act, up for reauthorization at the end of fiscal 2024. The act, initially passed in 1965 under former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs, aims to bolster health care and long-term care for older Americans. HHS official Alison Barkoff and Ramsey Alwin, CEO of the National Council on Aging, will testify, among others. Senate Veterans Affairs’ Committee Chair Jon Tester (D-Mont.) holds a bipartisan press conference today to push legislation he’s leading with Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) that would expand benefits for medically retired combat veterans. The legislation has 71 Senate co-sponsors. Despite the overwhelming support, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated it would add $9.75 billion to the deficit over a decade, making it more difficult to pass.
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