From Washington, DC,

• Congress remains on its August State/District workbreak this week. The Senate reconvenes on September 5, and the House reconvenes the following Tuesday, September 12.

• The Hill adds
  • “Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on Sunday he does not want short-term stopgap funding to butt up to the holidays as lawmakers struggle to come to an agreement over appropriations levels in the midst of a push by conservatives cut federal spending.” 

From the public health front —

• The Wall Street Journal reports
  • “Scientists obsessed with aging are sketching a road map of how our bodies change as we grow old in the hopes that it will lead to treatments that could help us live longer, healthier lives.
  • “They call this road map the “hallmarks of aging”—a set of biological features and mechanisms linked to our inexorable march toward death. Over the past decade, the hallmarks have helped guide the development of drugs that clear away cells that have stopped dividing and gene therapies that appear to restore cells to a more youthful state.
  • “Scientists in Europe codified nine hallmarks in a 2013 paper in the journal Cell that is widely cited in the aging field. They include shortening of telomeres (DNA segments at the ends of chromosomes); cell senescence, when cells stop dividing; and breakdowns in how cells regulate nutrients.
  • “The hallmarks appear to manifest with age and accelerate aging when enhanced. They are interconnected in ways researchers are trying to understand. Some believe this could unlock insights into why we age.” 

• Becker’s Payers Issues explains how health insurers have responded to the tragic Maui wildfire.

From the FEHB front,

• Federal News Network updates us on a fertility coverage issue that has attracted the attention of Democrat members of Congress. The FEHBlog expects that in 2024, common sense will prevail here because OPM has mandated unlimited coverage of artificial and intrauterine insemination. OPM can always clarify the situation with one of its carrier letters.

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• AHIP has highlighted health insurer efforts to improve the prior authorization process and mental health care.