The administration told a court how it cancelled research grants and told the country what it wants funded instead, while CMS moved to squeeze the provider taxes that finance Medicaid.
The week belonged to CMS: the CY2027 Physician Fee Schedule lands with a pay cut, an ACO overhaul, and a surprise remote-monitoring vendor ban, while the Medicaid work-requirement fight moves to court and the Senate grills Trump’s CDC and ASPR nominees over vaccines.
This week: CMS’s draft 2027 outpatient rule takes aim at 340B and site-neutral pay, Medicare’s GLP-1 coverage era begins, and the Medicaid work-requirement fight lands in court.
This week: CMS released a sweeping Medicaid work requirements rule that blindsided states, patient advocates, and health systems—reshaping a coverage landscape already under strain from record-low children’s enrollment.
This week: the No Surprises Act arbitration overhaul, a $775 billion Medicaid state-directed payments proposed rule, and a full cycle of TAVR clinical evidence.
The Trump administration’s FDA lost its second top official in four days this week, as CDER acting director Tracy Beth Høeg’s departure compounded the void left by Commissioner Marty Makary’s resignation and in a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court declined to revive the challenge to Medicare drug price negotiation, clearing a significant legal obstacle for the Inflation Reduction Act’s implementation.
This week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s antidepressant deprescribing campaign, House Oversight Chair James Comer pressed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to explain whether Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code complexity fuels improper billing, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) blocked publication of internal research finding COVID and shingles vaccines safe.
This week’s biggest regulatory development was the joint CMS-FDA launch of the RAPID Coverage Pathway — a new fast-track mechanism for Medicare coverage of breakthrough devices — covered in depth in the Spotlight below, alongside a parallel IPPS proposal to repeal a key NTAP payment incentive for the same device category.
A conversation with Peggy Tighe, Principal, Powers Law
This week features the publication of the long-awaited “prior auth” rule. Now it’s up to Congress to determine what comes next.
Savage Health Policy
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