This year’s wildly unpredictable presidential campaign and a truncated legislative calendar has Congress less active and more cautious than usual, AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels told AHA members today at the 2016 Annual Membership Meeting. Congressional leaders are looking ahead to 2017 and “see an opportunity to frame an agenda” that could include action on entitlement reform and the Affordable Care Act, he said. Still, he says there is a good chance for passing bipartisan legislation this year on funding to combat the Zika virus, addressing opioid abuse, improving behavioral health services and spurring medical innovation. Nickels discussed hospital advocacy issues at a session with Frank Sesno, former CNN Washington bureau chief and director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University. When hospital leaders meet later this week with congressional staff on Capitol Hill, Nickels urged them to advocate for flexible regulations for off-campus hospital outpatient departments; the SMARTER Act, which would standardize hospital merger reviews between the federal antitrust agencies; and AHA-backed bills to eliminate unnecessary barriers to care, among other key issues. 

Related News Articles

Headline
AHA May 23 submitted recommendations to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission in response to the agencies’ requests for information on…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services May 21 announced it will immediately begin annual audits of all Medicare Advantage plans and work to clear a…
Headline
The House Budget Committee May 18 advanced the fiscal year 2025 budget reconciliation bill by a 17-16 vote along party lines, as four Republicans who…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services May 12 released draft guidance for the third round of negotiations for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation…
Headline
The House Energy and Commerce Committee today advanced by a 30-24 vote along party lines its portion of the fiscal year 2025 reconciliation bill following a…
Headline
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. May 14 testified on President Trump’s discretionary budget proposal for fiscal year…