White House Releases FY 2027 Budget Proposal – The White House released President Donald Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget request on Friday. The proposal would cut the budget for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by $15.8 billion, including a $5 billion, or 10%, reduction for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would see a nearly $4 billion, or 42%, funding cut. The White House proposes appropriations increases for both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – a $98.2 billion (7%) boost for CMS, and an additional $232 million (3.3%) for FDA. Similar to FY 2026, the budget document again proposes a restructuring of the Department to prioritize the Make America Healthy Again agenda through the creation of the Administration for a Healthy America. The budget asserts that the new agency would save $5 billion through its consolidation of other existing programs across HHS. While the President’s budget is not binding and Congress is not required to adopt its proposals, lawmakers typically use it as a guide when setting funding levels and policy priorities for federal agencies.
The President’s FY 2027 budget can be found here, along with the HHS Budget in Brief and the various agency budget justifications to Congress (Administration for a Healthy America; Administration for Children, Families, and Communities; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health; CDC; CMS; FDA; Indian Health Service; NIH).
Secretary Kennedy Expected to Testify on HHS Budget Proposal – HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee and both the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committees later this month. While the hearings are unlikely to be officially noticed until one week prior to the events, it has been reported that the Secretary will appear before Ways and Means on April 16, and before Finance and HELP on April 22. The hearings will focus on FY 2027 HHS budget request.
Senators Submit Comments to CMS on MA Upcoding – A bipartisan group of senators have sent a letter to CMS regarding the agency’s response to Medicare Advantage (MA) overpayments stemming from upcoding. The bipartisan letter was signed by Sens. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Roger Marshall, MD (R-Kan.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.). The lawmakers express support for the agency’s recent proposal to exclude diagnoses from unlinked chart review records from risk score calculations as part of the 2027 MA and Part D Advance Notice, but argue that diagnoses submitted through unlinked chart reviews are “just one source of excess risk score growth that increases MA payments beyond beneficiaries’ true health status.” The letter outlines the steps Congress must take to “truly address the persistent issue of risk score gaming and to curb abuses in coding intensity,” including passage of the bipartisan No UPCODE Act (S. 1105).
Murphy Introduces Bill to Improve Medicare Reimbursement Stability – Rep. Greg Murphy, MD (R-N.C.) introduced the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act (H.R. 8163) last week. The bill seeks to modernize and update the underlying mechanics of the Medicare physician fee schedule to create more certainty and stability for physicians. The legislation updates the budget neutrality threshold from $20 million to $54.3 million in 2027, and starting in 2032, indexes the new $54.3 million threshold at five-year intervals by the cumulative percentage increase in the Medicare Economic Index applicable to physicians’ services for each year of the preceding five- year period. The legislation also establishes a “corrections” mechanism related to estimated utilization of codes; provides updates, at minimum every five years, to direct costs used to calculate practice expense relative value units; and limits the annual budget neutrality adjustment to the conversion factor to 2.5% starting in 2027. The bipartisan bill included the following original cosponsors: Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), John Joyce, MD (R-Pa.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Bob Onder, MD (R- Mo.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-Iowa), Kim Schrier, MD (D-Wash.), and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.).
Democrats Push to Block Funds for Implementation of WISeR – Thirty-five House Democrats wrote the Appropriations Committee leadership urging they block implementation of the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model “or any related model that would introduce prior authorization into traditional Medicare.” The lawmakers argue that the model, which expands Medicare’s use of prior authorization and AI to determine medical necessity, could be used to deny coverage for beneficiaries in traditional Medicare. The letter, which was led by Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), asks the Committee to include language prohibiting implementation of the model and in the FY 2027 appropriations legislation. “While prior authorization is often described as a cost-containment strategy, in practice it increases provider burden, takes time away from patients, limits patients’ access to life-saving care, and creates unnecessary administrative burden,” the letter states. “Many patients choose Traditional Medicare because they know their care will be determined by their doctors and not by insurance companies.”
Wyden, Sanders Request Testimony from Health Insurance CEOs – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are urging their respective committee chairmen to hold hearings with the CEOs of the nation’s largest health insurance companies. The lawmakers contrast the $54 billion in profits made by the seven major health insurance companies in the U.S. with the more than 85 million Americans who are uninsured or underinsured and the over half a million people facing bankruptcy due to medical debt. They also express concerns with the consolidation and vertical integration taking place across the health insurance industry. “The American public deserves to know why the big insurance executives that testified before the House earlier this year continue to get richer and richer, while over one-third of people with health insurance have been forced to skip or delay getting the care they need because of the outrageous cost,” the senators write.
Upcoming Congressional Hearings and Markups
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee executive session to consider several bills including S.1885, Stop the Scroll Act; S.3257, Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025; and S.3618, No Fentanyl on Social Media Act; 10:00 a.m.; April 14
Recently Introduced Health Legislation
H.R.8143 — To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require PDP sponsors of a prescription drug plan under part D of the Medicare program that use a formulary to include certain generic drugs and biosimilar biological products on such formulary, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Matsui, Doris O. [Rep.-D-CA-7]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means
H.R.8145 — To amend the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants Program to expand eligibility for financial assistance to include the construction and enhancement of facilities and technological systems aimed at delivering telemedicine services, strengthening cybersecurity infrastructure, and supporting distance learning initiatives, including digital literacy, workforce development, and job training, in rural communities; Sponsor: McClain Delaney, April [Rep.-D- MD-6]; Committees: House – Agriculture
H.R.8149 – To require the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study on the accessibility of addiction and mental health care providers and services for farmers and ranchers who have been impacted by severe and persistent drought, extreme weather events, instability in the commodities market, misinformation targeting consumers, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Neguse, Joe [Rep.-D-CO-2]; Committees: House – Agriculture
H.R.8153 — To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to maternal vaccination awareness and equity, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Sewell, Terri A. [Rep.-D-AL-7]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
H.R.8156 — To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a grant program to support the establishment of a national, toll-free telephone helpline to provide information and assistance to parents, caregivers, and youth to prevent child abuse and strengthen families; Sponsor: Torres, Norma J. [Rep.-D-CA-35]; Committees: House – Education and Workforce
H.Res.1147 — Recognizing the United States legacy of dismissed pain and denied autonomy in women’s health care, and affirming the Federal Government’s duty to protect individual dignity and advance patient-centered care in women’s health; Sponsor: Ansari, Yassamin [Rep.-D-AZ-3]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
H.R.8158 — Reproductive Healthcare Leave Act; Sponsor: Ansari, Yassamin [Rep.-D-AZ-3]; Committees: House – Education and Workforce; Oversight and Government Reform; House Administration; Judiciary
H.R.8159 — Gynecologic Pain Management Study Act; Sponsor: Ansari, Yassamin [Rep.-D-AZ-3]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
H.R.8160 — Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder Awareness and Research Act of 2026; Sponsor: Ansari, Yassamin [Rep.-D- AZ-3]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce
H.R.8163 — To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to ensure stability for provider payments under the Medicare program; Sponsor: Murphy, Gregory F. [Rep.-R-NC-3]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means
H.R.8164 — To amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act and title 5, United States Code, to require group health plans, health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage, and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program health benefits plans to meet certain requirements with respect to medical child support orders, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Norton, Eleanor Holmes [Del.-D-DC-At Large]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means; Oversight and Government Reform
H.R.8192 — To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidelines for the purpose of addressing the problem of nitazene overdoses, and for other purposes; Sponsor: Taylor, David J. [Rep.-R-OH-2]; Committees: House – Energy and Commerce