TRP is Hiring: Legislative Assistant (Health Portfolio)

Last week, the House passed a fiscal 2015 Energy and Water spending bill (H.R. 4923), marking the midway point in the chamber’s appropriations process for fiscal 2015. The House has passed five other fiscal 2015 appropriations bills while the Senate has yet to approve any spending bills due to a partisan stalemate over amendments. In […]

Although there are a handful of legislative days that will be on the books when Congress returns after the August recess, it appears as if both the House and the Senate are about to enter an intense three week sprint. In the House, this may be part of an effort by the Leadership to “clear […]

On July 10, the House voted 253-70 to approve a fiscal 2015 Energy-Water appropriations bill (H.R.4923) after a marathon session that featured debate and votes on a series of amendments. Overall, the $34 billion Energy-Water appropriations bill would give the EPA $7.5 billion for fiscal 2015, 9 percent below current spending levels. It would also […]

This post, penned by Thorn Run Partner's Billy Wynne, originally appeared in the July 11 edition of Health Affairs.  John Mathewson, executive vice president of Health Care Services for Children with Special Needs (HSC) – a Medicaid managed care plan in D.C. for children on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – recently spoke at the Association for Community Affiliated […]

Once again Democrats were smirking as Republicans appeared to wage civil war, this time over the decision to renew the charter for the Export-Import Bank. All Art Vandelay jokes aside, the debate over the Ex-Im bank once again has shown the schism in the Republican party, and how there are really three parties in Congress – Republican, […]

The House and Senate were in recess last week for the Fourth of July recess. Despite the break on Capitol Hill, healthcare remained a hot topic in Washington, with two Supreme Court rulings that could have lasting impacts on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a 5-4 decision last Monday, the Court […]

On June 24, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) office said that the Senate Appropriations Committee is unlikely to consider a fiscal year 2015 Energy and Water Development bill after an amendment dispute ended a planned markup of the legislation. Further debate on the $34.2 billion draft legislation was cancelled after the White House said […]

Once again Democrats were smirking as Republicans appeared to wage civil war, this time over the decision to renew the charter for the Export-Import Bank. All Art Vandelay jokes aside, the debate over the Ex-Im bank once again has shown the schism in the Republican party, and how there are really three parties in Congress – Republican, […]

The House and Senate both completed legislative business for the week last Thursday, with lawmakers returning to their districts for the Fourth of July recess. Before adjourning, the House voted 229-185 to approve legislation (H.R. 4899) to require the Department of Interior to conduct additional onshore and offshore oil and gas lease sales. Earlier in […]

Today, at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, members discussed the Administration’s efforts to curb fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare. The Subcommittee heard testimony from witnesses at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), […]

Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee hosted its second 21st Century Cures roundtable to discuss “bridging the gap” between digital medicine’s advances and regulatory policies. This roundtable follows the Committee’s recently released white paper entitled Leveraging Technology to Advance the Discovery, Development, and Delivery of Better Treatments and Cures. The stated goal of the 21st Century Cures Initiative is to “to […]

 Last week, House leadership elections and appropriations bills dominated the agenda on Capitol Hill. In the House, GOP members elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Majority Leader, following Rep. Eric Cantor's (R-VA) recent loss in a Virginia GOP primary. In floor activity, the Senate deadlocked Thursday on moving ahead with a three-bill appropriations package after […]