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LeadingAge Educates Congress on its Policy Priorities
LeadingAge sent letters to every member of 119th Congress on February 7 to educate them about LeadingAge’s mission, members, and policy priorities for the coming year across several key issue areas and care settings. The letter provided an opportunity to introduce the association to more than 70 new members of the House and Senate, as well as reintroduce LeadingAge to the many returning members of Congress who have been newly assigned to committees with jurisdiction over aging services issues. LeadingAge priorities covered issues pertaining to affordable housing, nursing homes, Medicare and Medicare Advantage, care in the home and community, hospice, workforce, and tax policy. Click here to read the full text of the letter.
Senate to Consider its Budget Resolution
On February 18, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) announced the Senate will vote on the fiscal year 2025 budget resolution passed by the Senate Budget Committee on February 12.
“It’s time to act on the decisive mandate the American people gave to President Trump in November. Securing the border, rebuilding our defense, and unleashing American energy…. Let’s get it done,” Majority Leader Thune said on X.
The Senate committee’s resolution calls for up to $515 billion in mass deportation, border control, and defense spending and at least that much in cuts from federal mandatory programs (except Social Security and Medicare).
The House passed its much more expansive budget resolution out of its budget committee the same week but is on recess the week of February 17. The House committee’s resolution calls for at least $4.5 trillion in expenses for tax cuts, border issues, and defense and at least $1.5 trillion in savings. When the House returns on February 24, it could struggle to pass its resolution, which calls for potentially several hundred billion in cuts to Medicaid and threats to tax exempt bonds, among other funding at risk. Republicans hold a majority in the House of two seats, meaning it can only lose one member of its party in a vote. Read more about budget reconciliation here.
Senate Confirms Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Lead HHS
The Senate on February 13 confirmed the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by a vote of 52-48 to become Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Only former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) broke from his party and joined Democrats in opposing Mr. Kennedy’s nomination. As a polio survivor, Senator McConnell has criticized Mr. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine activism, a topic that was covered extensively during Mr. Kennedy’s two days of contentious Senate confirmation hearings.
As HHS Secretary, Mr. Kennedy will oversee several federal agencies that administer aging services programs and funding, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as many others.
Also on February 13, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to create a Make America Healthy Again Commission, which is tasked with “investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis, with an initial focus on childhood chronic diseases,” issues close to Secretary Kennedy’s interests.
HHS Proposed Rule on Electronic Health Information Would Pose Challenges for Regulated Entities
A January 6 proposed Health and Human Services (HHS) rule designed to protect electronic protected health information would add significant new and detailed requirements compared to the existing Security Rule established under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HHS states that the proposals would increase the cybersecurity for electronic protected health information by revising the rule to address changes in the environment in which health care is provided, significant increases in breaches and cyberattacks, as well as common deficiencies the HHS Office for Civil Rights has observed in investigations into Security Rule compliance by covered entities and their business associates. This LeadingAge article provides analysis.
Representative Introduces Congressional Review Act Disapproval for the CY2025 Home Health Final Rule
On February 12, Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA) introduced 13 Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolutions of disapproval to overturn various Biden-era regulations. CRA provides Congress an additional review period to introduce joint resolutions of disapproval for rules submitted within the last few months of a President’s outgoing term. The only health related rule included in the list was the Calendar Year 2025 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update. In addition to setting the rates for home health agencies in CY2025 this rule also established a new Condition of Participation for home health agencies as well as making permanent COVID era NHSN reporting requirements for nursing homes.
Congress Reintroduces the Improving Care and Access to Nurses (ICAN) Act
On February 13, the Senate (S. 575) and House of Representatives (H.R. 1317), led by Representative David Joyce (R-OH) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OH), introduced bi-partisan legislation to increase patient access to care by removing outdated and unnecessary federal barriers on services provided by advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. APRNs include nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anaesthetists, certified nurse-midwives, and clinical nurse specialists.
LeadingAge supported the ICAN Act in previous years including working on updates to allow nurse practitioners to bill for hospice services beyond their role as attending clinician. The legislation would also allow NPs to certify the terminal illness for hospice admission, expand eligibility to certify and recertify a Medicare beneficiary for home health services to certified nurse-midwives, and remove the requirement that SNF care be provided under the supervision of a physician and authorize NPs to perform admitting examinations and all required patient assessments. Representative Joyce and Senator Merkley were joined by four colleagues in the introduction, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Lauren Underwood (D-IL) and Mike Rogers (R-AL).
Weekly Recaps: February 19, 2025
Affordable Housing Weekly Recap. Here is your weekly Affordable Housing Weekly Recap.
- Home Health Weekly Recap. Here is your weekly Home Health Weekly Recap.
- Hospice Weekly Recap. Here is your weekly Hospice Weekly Recap.
- Life Plan Community Weekly Recap. Here is your weekly LPC Weekly Recap.
- Medicaid, HCBS, and PACE Weekly Recap. Here is your weekly Medicaid, HCBS, and PACE Weekly Recap.
Nursing Home Weekly Recap. Here is your weekly Nursing Home Weekly Recap.
