SAVE THE DATE – March 18, 2025 – 2:00 PM
At the beginning of each new Congress, the Roundtable’s Board of Directors updates our Federal Health Care Policy Priorities in response to changes in the national policy and political environment.
On Tuesday, March 18th, Roundtable staff will discuss these updated Policy Priorities during a webinar scheduled for 2:00 PM. In addition, our policy advisors will discuss the potential ramifications of the early policy and program decisions of the new Trump Administration. Additional details will be announced.
To Register for the March 18th Webinar, click here.
Top News
Senate Democrats Aim to Pass Bipartisan Health Package
Recent reporting indicates Senate Democrats are attempting to achieve unanimous consent in the upper chamber to pass a bipartisan, bicameral health care policy package. Senator Wyden (D-OR), ranking member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, recently stated that he hopes to pass the health package that was excluded in the 11th hour of the end-of-year funding negotiations that took place at the end of 2024. If enacted as previously written, the package would provide extensions to certain telehealth flexibilities and hospital-at-home rules, implement new measures to address the opioid epidemic, prevent cuts in pay for physicians treating Medicare beneficiaries, and major reforms to the practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Notably, this package was initially conceived of and written with full bipartisan support, and was only excluded after President Trump voiced his disdain for the continuing resolution. Senator Wyden has enlisted the support of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in garnering support for the renewed package, but bypassing a roll call vote – as Sen. Wyden aims to do – would require the support of all 100 senators.
Novo Nordisk May Not Participate in Second Round Medicare Part D Drug Price Negotiations
Novo Nordisk told Inside Health Policy that the company would not confirm if they would engage in the second round of Medicare Part D drug negotiations. In the statement, Novo Nordisk reiterated its position that the company’s three GLP-1 drugs with the active ingredient semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus) should not be listed as a single item under current statute. Aggregating the three GLP1 drugs allows the drugs to meet the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) selection criteria when each drug individually would not meet IRA selection criteria. Earlier this year, Joseph Grogan, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during the first Trump Administration, claimed the Biden administration violated the IRA by grouping Novo Nordisk’s GLP1s into a single item. In September 2023, Novo Nordisk sued the federal government to block the implementation of the IRA Part D Drug Negotiations claiming it authorized government price setting; however, the lawsuit was defeated in August 2024. If the company declines to participate in the Medicare Part D drug negotiations, it could either pay an excise tax on the drugs listed for negotiation or withdraw the drugs from Medicare coverage to avoid the added tax. The latter could significantly impact Medicare beneficiaries’ access to these drugs beginning in 2027.
The deadline to sign agreements to participate in the negotiation process was February 28. Other major manufacturers including Pfizer, Astellas, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca and Amgen have confirmed they will engage in second round Part D price negotiations even though some still consider the program “harmful”, “flawed”, or “unlawful”.
President Trump Delivers First Address to Congress of his Second Term
President Donald Trump delivered his first address to Congress of his second term. The two-hour speech from the president notably lacked a single reference to healthcare throughout his remarks, focusing more on the economy, immigration, and foreign policy. The address to Congress came just days after House Republicans passed a budget resolution that tasked the Energy & Commerce Committee – the committee with jurisdiction over Medicaid – with identifying $880 billion in cuts to offset tax cuts GOP lawmakers hope to extend. The record-long address to Congress delivered by President Trump was primarily centered around his Administration’s continued efforts to rid the federal government of fraud, waste and abuse, in addition to removing any remaining diversity, equity and inclusion policies from government agencies and organizations. Moreover, the president blamed his predecessor for the current failures of the economy and vowed to provide working families with economic relief.
Lawmakers Push to Reverse Medicare Doctor Pay Cuts in Funding Bill
Lawmakers are considering a fix to Medicare provider payment cuts as part of a stopgap continuing resolution, with GOP Doctors Caucus Chair Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) advocating for its inclusion. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services adjusts physician payments annually based on a formula that lawmakers argue fails to account for rising costs, leading to a 30% decline in payments over two decades. The proposed legislative fix, which has bipartisan support, was initially set for inclusion in last year’s spending package but was dropped after opposition from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk in favor of a smaller, more focused spending bill. Although the Trump administration previously assured support for a fix, the cost of reversing the cuts remains a hurdle, requiring potential offsets such as increased oversight of Medicare Advantage insurers or reforms for pharmacy benefit managers. Moreover, attaching any policy issues to the spending bill risks opening the door to additional demands from lawmakers with competing priorities.
President Trump has asked for a “clean” continuing resolution through September, a request that GOP leaders have generally expressed the intent to honor. The spending bill language is expected to be released this weekend and needs to be passed by March 14 to avoid a government shutdown.
Administrative Action
- The top spokesperson at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) abruptly resigned after reportedly clashing with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his aides over their handling of the growing measles outbreak. The spokesperson, Thomas Corry, announced that he had resigned effective immediately, just two weeks after joining HHS as its assistant secretary for public affairs. Corry is said to have grown frustrated with Secretary Kennedy’s limited response to the measles outbreak which has now infected at least 146 people and resulted in the first measles death in the US in over a decade. Corry’s unexpected departure is said to have been prompted by continued disagreement with the Secretary’s principal deputy chief of staff, Stefanie Spear, over management of HHS. The resignation of HHS’ top spokesperson represents a significant and early setback for Secretary Kennedy, who has only led the nation’s health department for less than a month.
- In an op-ed, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called for urgent public health action in response to the measles outbreak in West Texas, which has resulted in 146 confirmed cases and the first U.S. measles-related death since 2015. Predominantly affecting children, the outbreak has been concentrated in a community with low vaccination rates, with 79 cases occurring in unvaccinated individuals and 62 with unknown vaccination status. Secretary Kennedy emphasized the importance of vaccination in preventing disease and promoting community immunity while acknowledging that the decision to vaccinate is personal. He advocated for culturally competent education, increased vaccine accessibility, and transparent communication to rebuild public trust in health agencies. Secretary Kennedy reaffirmed HHS’s commitment to public health collaboration, urging parents, healthcare providers, and policymakers to work together to prevent future outbreaks.
- The Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Trump administration dropped a lawsuit that sought to uphold emergency abortion access under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). The lawsuit, initially filed by the Biden administration, aimed to prevent the state of Idaho from enforcing its near-total abortion ban including situations where terminating a pregnancy is necessary to stabilize a patient in a medical emergency. The DOJ’s withdrawal coincides with its request for additional time to assess how it will handle legal challenges related to mifepristone, a widely used prescription medication for terminating pregnancies. In response to the DOJ’s decision, St. Luke’s Health System filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent Idaho from penalizing doctors who provide emergency abortion care, arguing that without legal intervention, hospitals would be forced to airlift critically ill patients out of state to receive necessary medical treatment. St. Luke’s emphasized that allowing even a brief period of enforcement would cause significant harm to patients and strain hospital resources. Judge B. Lynn Winmill granted the temporary restraining order, halting enforcement of Idaho’s law against emergency abortions while evaluating whether to issue a broader ruling that could provide long-term legal protections for patients and healthcare providers.
Congressional Action
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) will hold a confirmation hearing for Dr. Dave Weldon, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Thursday, March 13th, at 10 a.m. This will be the first-ever Senate confirmation for the position following a 2022 law. A former Florida congressman from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, Dr. Weldon is expected to face bipartisan scrutiny over his past statements suggesting a link between vaccines and autism. During his time in Congress, he repeatedly questioned vaccine safety and advocated for transferring vaccine oversight from the CDC to an independent agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.
