SUMMER HAS COME AND PASSED — This month is jam-packed with the rush to avoid a government shutdown when Congress reconvenes next Monday, the next phases of the organ transplant reform and the impending ruling on Title X funding from the Supreme Court. Here’s what our team is watching: The impending appropriations fight: Congress has until Oct. 1 to pass a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. The House-version of the HHS fiscal 2025 budget includes a 7 percent cut to the department, proposes a reorganization of the NIH and makes deep cuts to CDC funding. The Senate version also cuts HHS funding overall, curbs the NIH reorganization and restores money for HIV/AIDS programs cut in the House bill. Lawmakers are expected to pass a stopgap that keeps spending levels steady, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney reports. One year of organ transplant reform: September marks one year since President Joe Biden signed an overhaul of the nation’s organ transplant system into law, allowing different entities to oversee certain functions instead of awarding a single contractor. Last week, the administration announced the first new contractor, the American Institutes for Research, a nonprofit behavioral and social science research organization, which will set up an election for a new board of directors. HHS expects to award the next round of contracts — to keep organ donations and transplants running smoothly as it transitions into a multivendor system — by the end of September. Title X ruling: The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon in a case to decide whether HHS must dispense millions in federal family-planning grants to Oklahoma that the Biden administration withheld over the state’s refusal to provide abortion referrals to patients who request them. It would be the high court’s biggest abortion decision since Roe v. Wade was overturned and could fuel other challenges to the Title X family-planning program. Under rules the Biden administration finalized in 2021, clinics that get Title X funding are required to offer nondirective counseling for pregnant patients about their options, including abortion — even if the state has banned the procedure. Oklahoma sued the administration in 2023 after it lost roughly $4.5 million in funds for refusing to comply with the abortion counseling and referral requirements. Medicare Part D plan details: Medicare plans will soon send their annual notices of change to beneficiaries, detailing how premiums, deductibles and copays might change next year. This year, it will be crucial to watch how the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act, including a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket spending on drugs, will play out on premium costs. WELCOME TO TUESDAY PULSE. And welcome back from a hopefully nice Labor Day weekend. We’re happy to be back in your inboxes, so please send your tips, scoops and feedback to ccirruzzo@politico.com and bleonard@politico.com and follow along @ChelseaCirruzzo and @_BenLeonard_.
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