Health Care Checkup: February 11, 2022

Health Care Checkup

February 11, 2022

THE BIG PICTURE

On Tuesday, the House voted 272 to 162 to pass a short-term spending bill ahead of the February 18 deadline, when the current continuing resolution expires. The stopgap measure will fund the federal government through March 11, which will give Democrats and Republicans additional time to come to an agreement on the larger Omnibus bill. The bill will extend the temporary scheduling of fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act and will also extend the temporary increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage for Medicaid. The Senate is expected to vote on the stopgap next week.

Also on Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on “Protecting Youth Mental Health.” At the hearing, Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced that five bipartisan Co-Chairs have been selected to take on specific mental health issue areas. Additional information can be found here, and MCRT’s summary of the hearing can be found here.

The Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on "ARPA-H: The Next Frontier of Biomedical Research." As a reminder, the Biden Administration proposed to create the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which would be a new agency that would work to speed up the development of new, life-saving cures for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. MCRT’s summary of the hearing can be found here.

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Ranking Member, Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), announced that they are working on a bipartisan effort to “reauthorize, improve, and expand federal mental health and substance use disorder programs.” Senator Burr said that he is working with Murray and other members of the Committee on, “meaningful, bipartisan proposals” to help address the nation’s ongoing mental health and substance use crises.

On Thursday, CMS announced a national coverage determination (NCD) that will expand coverage for lung cancer screening with low dose computed tomography (LDCT). Medicare beneficiaries will now be eligible for lung cancer screening with LDCT at age 50, instead of age 55. Additionally, the tobacco smoking history was reduced from at least 30 packs of cigarettes per year to at least 20 packs per year. CMS’s final decision can be found here.

CMS has begun posting nursing home staff and resident COVID-19 booster vaccination data online, as part of its broader effort to increase transparency. CMS reports that current data shows the rate of booster shots administered to nursing home residents is “comparable to the national average for adults over the age of 65.” However, it found that the rate of booster shots administered to nursing home staff is below the national average for adults over 18 years of age. More can be found here.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it is making $66.5 million in American Rescue Plan funding available to eight grantees to help improve community outreach efforts in 38 states and the District of Columbia to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence and increase vaccination rates. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said that “Building vaccine confidence is critical to increasing vaccinations, which remains so important as we encourage boosters and kids’ vaccinations.”

What to Expect Next Week: The Senate is expected to vote on the stopgap bill, which, if approved, would fund the federal government through March 11. On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship will hold a hearing titled, “Is There a Doctor in the House? The Role of Immigrant Physicians in the U.S. Healthcare System.” On Thursday, Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled, "Americans in Need: Responding to the National Mental Health Crisis.” Also on Thursday, the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing on, “Exploring Pathways to Affordable, Universal Health Coverage.”

DEEP DIVE

House Passes Stopgap Spending Bill, Buying Time for Further Omnibus Negotiations

Wyden Announces Next Steps of Effort to Improve Mental Health Care

This week, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on “Protecting Youth Mental Health.” At the hearing, Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced that five bipartisan Co-Chairs have been selected to take on specific mental health issue areas. Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) are going to focus on improving access to behavioral health care for children and young people, Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Steve Daines (R-MT) will work on strengthening the mental health care workforce, Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and John Cornyn (R-TX) will work on increasing integration and access to care, Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Richard Burr (R-NC) will focus on mental health parity, and Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and John Thune (R-SD) will work on furthering the use of telehealth. Additional information can be found here, and MCRT’s summary of the hearing can be found here.

Senate HELP Leaders Announce Plan to Bolster Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Programs

CMS Makes Nursing Home Resident and Staff Booster COVID-19 Vaccination Data Available Online

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) has begun posting nursing home staff and resident COVID-19 booster vaccination data online, as part of its broader effort to increase transparency. CMS reports that current data shows the rate of booster shots administered to nursing home residents is “comparable to the national average for adults over the age of 65.” However, it found that the rate of booster shots administered to nursing home staff is below the national average for adults over 18 years of age. The information is available on the Medicare.gov Care Compare website, and will include data for specific facilities, as well as the national average. More can be found here.

CMS Expands Coverage of Lung Cancer Screening

HHS Makes $66.5 Million Available to Improve Community-Based COVID-19 Vaccination

Outreach Efforts

CDC Weighs Easing Mask Requirements

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is considering releasing new guidance to ease COVID-19 masking rules. On a White House call on Wednesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that while the agency is working to update its guidance, “our hospitalizations are still high, [and] our death rates are still high.” She said that the CDC is “encouraged by the current trends, [but] we are not there yet.” The news comes as more and more states are easing their mask restrictions. Just this week, several states that have had stringent guidance, including California, New Jersey, and New York, have eased their requirements. Currently, the U.S. is averaging around 250,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, which is a more than 60% decrease from the numbers in January.

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Holds Hearing on ARPA-H

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on "ARPA-H: The Next Frontier of Biomedical Research." As a reminder, the Biden Administration proposed to create the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which would be a new agency that would work to speed up the development of new, life-saving cures for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. At Tuesday’s hearing, there were varying views for the vision of ARPA-H. Some members and witnesses felt that ARPA-H should be housed within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while others thought it should be a separate entity. There were also varying perspectives as to whether the creation of ARPA-H is necessary. MCRT’s summary of the hearing can be found here.