WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK — Congress has a busy week in health care, with appropriations bills on the move in the House and a vote on in vitro fertilization legislation expected in the Senate. Here’s what we’re watching on Capitol Hill this week: — A House Appropriations subcommittee meets today to mark up a spending bill including FDA funding for fiscal 2025. — The House Appropriations Committee meets Wednesday to mark up the funding bill for the State Department, Foreign Operations and other programs. The legislation would ban all organizations receiving U.S. global health funding from promoting, referring or performing abortions with funding from other sources. — The House Energy and Commerce Committee meets Wednesday to mark up 13 bills but not legislation that would extend eased telehealth rules for two years as previously expected. That bill advanced through the health subcommittee in a 41-0 vote last month. The bill hasn’t received a public Congressional Budget Office score yet. — The Senate Judiciary Committee meets Wednesday to discuss “enhancing enforcement against illegal e-cigarettes.” — The Senate Finance Committee meets Wednesday to examine issues at youth residential treatment facilities and potential solutions. — The House Natural Resources Committee meets Wednesday to mark up legislation that would require the Interior Department to consult HHS on decisions about critical minerals and materials that could impact health care. — A Senate Judiciary subcommittee meets Wednesday to discuss abortion bans and people crossing state lines for reproductive care after the Dobbs decision. — The House Budget Committee meets Thursday to examine the Medicare program’s solvency. — A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee meets Thursday to examine the state of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, which was created to try new ways to finance health care but has increased spending. CMMI head Liz Fowler will testify. KEY NDAA AMENDMENTS TO WATCH — The House is set to vote on its version of the National Defense Authorization Act this week, and plenty of potential provisions have health care implications, even outside of contentious anti-abortion riders that are unlikely to become law. The legislation is set to be considered by the House Rules Committee today before a floor vote later this week, and lawmakers will attempt to add amendments to one of the few potential major legislative packages remaining this Congress. One of the most notable amendments of the more than 1,300 filed that lawmakers will consider is a bipartisan one from Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) that would attach legislation known as the BIOSECURE Act, which would effectively prevent China-based biotech companies from doing business in the U.S. The legislation has significant momentum after versions advanced out of the House Oversight Committee in a 40-1 vote last month and out of the Senate Homeland Security Committee earlier this year. Other noteworthy bipartisan amendments include bills that would: — Allow VA providers to recommend state medical marijuana programs. A similar amendment was added to the House-passed VA spending bill last week. Another NDAA amendment would allow members of the Armed Forces to use legal hemp. — Prevent foreign adversaries from “exploiting” U.S. artificial intelligence. The bill passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee in an overwhelming vote last month. — Bar the Defense Department from using funds on research using dogs or cats. — Mandate the Department of Homeland Security to craft a strategy to counter cartel recruitment on social media. On the horizon: Even if the amendments were added to the package, the Senate must still agree to adopt them in the final negotiated version.
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