Federal Government Remains in Shutdown: No deal has been struck between Congressional leaders, marking this the twenty-fourth day of government shutdown. There are potential discussions to reportedly include the Department of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, FDA and Legislative Branch full-year funding measures to a coming funding measure, which GOP leadership would hope to entice needed Democrat cooperation. President Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought have made good on their aims to permanently fire thousands of Federal workers across non-essential agencies. SNAP benefits will be suspended on November 1.

Senate HELP Holds 340B Hearing: On Thursday, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on potential misuses of 340B program savings. Michelle Rosenberg from GAO’s Health team noted that HRSA has completed around 200 hospital audits every year since 2012, but HRSA did not take up her agency’s recommendation and ensure reporting from hospitals that post-audit compliance efforts were completed. During the hearing, Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said the Senate 340B Working Group, led by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), is finalizing potential bipartisan legislation on programmatic fixes.

CMS Editing MA Provider Directory: With the opening of the Open Enrollment period on October 15, CMS is reportedly editing inaccuracies in the Medicare Advantage provider directory. The system’s many inaccuracies had earned public criticism and plans to include a MA-only system were announced in August.

Senate HELP Holds Hearing on Workforce Issues: On Wednesday, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on union and worker pay issues across all sectors. Mary Turner, President of National Nurses United, raised issues in nurse workplace safety and called for greater unionization across healthcare workforces. Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said he hopes to draft and introduce bipartisan labor law legislation this Congress.

Senate Aging Holds Hearing on Healthcare Costs: On Wednesday, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on “shoppable” healthcare featuring entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Cuban owns Cost-Plus-Drugs, a direct-to-consumer pharmacy company; Chair Rick Scott (R-FL) voiced interest in including similar policy programs into Federal health services, even going as far as suggesting direct-to-beneficiary CMS reimbursement allowing provider choice.  

Democratic Governors Form Healthcare Alliance: Last Wednesday, 15 Democrat governors announced the launch of the Governors Public Health Alliance, a multistate initiative to coordinate on public health and emergency preparedness. In the system’s announcement, governors aimed criticism at HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., saying the current Administration’s changes to vaccine schedules, healthcare funding, and staff policy endangers the U.S. health system. From Washington, HHS Spokesperson Andrew Nixon said this is another move along the lines of “the failed politics of the pandemic.”

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