McDermott+

There are dynamics at the local, state and federal level that could lead to the Biden administration to wind down the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). At the same time, there may be reasons to continue the PHE, especially given that this virus has surprised us multiple times to date. Debbie Curtis, Brian Stimson and Rodney Whitlock gather for a discussion on the layers of legal, policy, and political issues that surround statutory and regulatory flexibilities on health services, treatments, vaccination and testing associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the end of January, we welcomed Rachel Kosh to the McDermottPlus team. Rachel will be serving as a Health Policy Manager and shares her background and experience in health policy and strategy.

This week, the House is out of session while Senate pursues action on passing the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government before Friday's deadline. Debbie Curtis, Amy Kelbick and Rodney Whitlock come together to preview a busy legislative agenda this week in Washington.

On February 2nd, the White House announced that President Biden reignited the Cancer Moonshot with renewed White House leadership of this effort. In addition, Congress is moving forward with legislation to create the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Meg Gilley, Amy Kelbick and Sheila Madhani join our breakroom discussion on the road ahead for biomedical research.

The House will take up a stop-gap funding bill in the coming week to avoid the February 18th deadline of a government shutdown. Debbie Curtis and Rodney Whitlock return to discuss the challenges Democrats face in passing the third bill to extend funding the government.

Health Care Value Week (January 24-28, 2022) celebrated the progress made to date on value-based care models. Mara McDermott and Dr. Brian Steele talk about Collaborative Health Systems' long-standing commitment to accountable care models. Show Links... Visit the Health Care Value Week webpage... https://hcvalueweek.org/

The countdown continues for Congressional leaders to work on a plan to fund the government past the February 18th deadline. Debbie Curtis and Rodney Whitlock discuss the narrow window for negotiations on passing an omnibus spending bill and what healthcare key initiative in the BBB could become a dynamic issue in the mid-term elections.

Health Care Value Week celebrated the progress made to date on value-based care models. Mara McDermott and Scott Disch review the discussions on key legislative and regulatory priorities on the horizon that will help transform the healthcare system to meet the future needs of patients and providers. Show Links... Learn more about Health Care Value Week and access resources... https://hcvalueweek.org/

As Congress is on recess this week, work continues on funding the government beyond the February 18th deadline. Leaders connected last week to begin bipartisan talks. Meg Gilley and Amy Kelbick outline the possible steps ahead to avoid a government shutdown by passing a cross-party spending agreement.

Across the country, the recent coronavirus surge is driving an increase in demands for diagnostic tests, including at-home tests. The Biden administration recently announced that Americans can now order a limited number of free at-home COVID-19 tests and that private insurance will provide coverage without cost-sharing for at-home tests. Our team explains how this will have a financial impact on health insurance plans and our economy.