The House of Representatives and the Senate are in session this week for Committee business and floor voting.
The Wall Street Journal adds
Congressional leaders are set to return to the Capitol on Monday under pressure to negotiate a spending bill that would fund the federal government’s operations beyond Friday.
Negotiators have days to reach a deal on a full-year spending bill or pass a short-term measure delaying the deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown. To reach a longer-term deal, they will have to break the partisan deadlock between Republicans and Democrats, who are split over $26 billion in nondefense spending in talks to craft an omnibus bill. * * *
Senate lawmakers are expected this week to pass a defense policy bill that authorizes U.S. military leaders to purchase new weapons and increase pay for troops, and lifts a requirement for members of the military to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Tomorrow is the last day of the Federal Employee Benefits Open Season. According to OPM, the official end is 11:59 pm “in the location of your electronic enrollment system”
The FEHBlog noticed on Linked In that OPM Director Kiran Ahuja spoke last week at the Milken Institute’s Future of Health Summit.
Director Ahuja spoke about eradicating stigmas surrounding mental health treatment and creating a welcoming work environment for all.
As the largest employer in the nation, the Federal government must continue to invest in policies, tools, and resources that gives every employee the high quality and accessible mental health supports they need
Hey OPM, why don’t you post the Director’s remarks on opm.gov?
From the infectious disease front, the Secretary of the Treasury has written a letter to the state governors on resources available to combat the tripledemic. The FEHBlog has read articles recommending that we must return to masking and social distancing. The FEHBlog, who is a lawyer, not a health professional, thinks that if we accept this mistaken guidance, we will be tied to masking and social distancing in the winter forever. N.B. This is not a criticism of people who choose to mask social distance. The FEHBlog’s point is that the tripledemic was unavoidable.
From the No Surprises Act (NSA) front, the FEHBlog checked out the docket sheet for the second Texas Medical Association versus the federal NSA regulators challenging the revised final rule implementing the NSA’s independent dispute resolution process without giving the revised rule a chance.
The case is at the cross-summary judgment stage. A summary judgment motion asks the Court to decide the case without a trial because the issues presented are entirely legal.
The federal government filed its motion in early November. The FEHBlog knew the AHIP and employee benefit associations subsequently had filed friends of the court/amici briefs supporting the NSA regulators. The FEHBlog was delighted to read that a group of patient/consumer organizations, including “ALS Association, CancerCare, Epilepsy Foundation, Families USA Action, Hemophilia Federation of America, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, United States Public Interest Research Group, Inc., and Cancer Support Community” also filed an amicus brief supporting the NSA regulators. That is an uplifting amici lineup.
From the U.S. healthcare business front, the Wall Street Journal reports
Amgen Inc. is in advanced talks to buy drug company Horizon Therapeutics PLC. according to people familiar with the matter, in a takeover likely to be valued at well over $20 billion and mark the largest healthcare merger of the year.
The U.S. biotechnology company was the last of three suitors standing in an auction for Horizon, the people said, after French drugmaker Sanofi SA said Sunday it was out of the running.
A deal could be finalized by Monday assuming the talks with Amgen don’t fall apart, the people said.
Horizon develops medicines to treat rare autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases that are currently sold mostly in the U.S. Its biggest drug, Tepezza, is used to treat thyroid eye disease, an affliction characterized by progressive inflammation and damage to tissues around the eyes.
The company is Nasdaq-listed, but based in Ireland and has operations in Dublin, Deerfield, Ill., and a new facility in Rockville, Md.
Wow-wee.