Weekly Washington Healthcare Update: September 15, 2014

This Week: House Passes Legislation to Postpone 2014 Enforcement of Medicare Supervision Requirement for Outpatient Therapeutic Services... HHS awards $60 Million in Grants for Navigators in Federal and State Partnership Exchanges... CMS Delays Implementation of Dialysis Facility Compare Star Rating System.

1. CONGRESS

   House

   House Committee Leaders Demand Answers on How ACA Funds Were Used in Failed State Exchanges

   On Sept. 8, Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell requesting all documentation detailing information on the more than $1.3 billion spent on "[Affordable Care Act] state based exchanges that have failed or are so flawed that they require substantial modification." This letter follows an already failed June 18 deadline set in a previous June 3 letter and several other extended production deadlines established through interagency discussions. The letter, signed by full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), full committee Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton (R-TX) and Vice Chairman of the Health and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittees Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), hopes to shed light on how federal money was spent on establishing and repairing state exchanges in Massachusetts, Maryland, Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, Minnesota and Vermont. The letter sets forth a new document delivery deadline of Sept. 19, 2014.

   House Passes Legislation to Postpone 2014 Enforcement of Medicare Supervision Requirement for Outpatient Therapeutic Services

   On Sept. 9, the House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 4067) by voice vote to postpone enforcement of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) supervision requirement for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small and rural hospitals. The regulation, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2014, affected only critical access and small rural hospitals with fewer than 100 beds and mandated direct physician supervision of even routine procedures such as drawing blood. A press release by the bill's sponsor, Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-AL), said, "There are over 1,300 critical access hospitals that serve rural Americans in nearly every state, and these facilities simply lack the resources to fulfill this burdensome mandate. Physicians at rural hospitals have not been required to directly supervise these types of outpatient therapy in the past, and asking them to do so now provides no benefits to patients and at the same time jeopardizes access to care." An identical Senate version of the bill (S.1954), introduced by Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), passed by unanimous consent in the Senate in February 2014.

   House E&C Oversight Subcommittee to Host Hearing on Mental Health

   The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing to examine the connection between serious mental illness and suicidal behavior. The hearing, entitled "Suicide Prevention and Treatment: Helping Loved Ones in Mental Health Crisis," is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 18 at 11:30 a.m. in Room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing follows the full committee's yearlong investigation of federal programs addressing severe mental illness. Members will seek to identify evidence-based treatments and effective strategies for suicide prevention. A witness list for the hearing is still forthcoming.

   House E&C Health Subcommittee Hearing to Examine New Drug Development to Fight Antibiotic Resistance

   In continuing with its 21st Century Cures hearing series, on Friday, Sept. 19, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will host a hearing titled "Examining Ways to Combat Antibiotic Resistance and Foster New Drug Development." As the 21st Century Cures initiative continues, subcommittee members will review the growing threat of antibiotic resistance and explore efforts to counteract this global health threat through new drug development. The witness list is forthcoming.

   Ways and Means Hearing on ACA Implementation

   On Sept. 3, 2014, Ways and Means Health Subcommittee...