Resources & Products

AHRA Advocacy

Capitol Insights

The Capitol Insights newsletter is provided by our regulatory affairs contractor, Capitol Associates Inc. While not specific to imaging, the newsletter covers the top federal health policy activity of the week.

Congress Debuts Bill to Address Physician Payment Cuts (February 7, 2025)

2025 Transition Updates

The Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the full Senate floor for a vote. Kennedy’s nomination will be voted on early next week. This Committee vote cleared a major hurdle for Kennedy’s confirmation. The deciding vote was Senator Bill Cassidy M.D. (R-LA) who expressed concerns with Kennedy’s history of vaccine skepticism. Kennedy ultimately promised Senator Cassidy that he would maintain the country’s vaccine safety systems and ensure federal vaccine guidance remained online if confirmed as HHS Secretary.

Congress Debuts Bill to Address Physician Payment Cuts

Lawmakers, led by GOP Doctors Caucus co-chair Representative Greg Murphy (R-NC-3), have introduced a bill, H.R. 878 The Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act, to offset the 2.83% Medicare physician cut that took effect on January 1st. This cut took effect to start the new year since Congress did not act on the cut in the end-of-year Continuing Resolution (CR)

The bill would increase the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Conversion Factor (CF) by 6.62% for services furnished on or after April 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. This is intended to both address the 2.83% cut and additionally provide an inflationary update to the CF on top of that. The most likely legislative vehicle for the bill is the Appropriations bills that are planned to be agreed upon in March once the current CR expires. 

Top Stories in Healthcare Policy

Following the mass removal of webpages including health data from federal government websites, a lawsuit has been filed against numerous federal health agencies including HHS, FDA, CDC, and OPM by Doctors for America.

Many news outlets are reporting that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team has spent time at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offices this week looking for examples of fraud and abuse. This included searching payment and contracting systems. There are also rumors that some HHS employees will be part of DOGE’s larger government downsizing efforts. 

President Trump removed Rohit Chopra from leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This move was expected as Chopra is a Biden Administration holdover. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is now acting CFPB Director. Bessent placed a temporary pause on all pending CFPB activity. This includes indefinitely pausing when the CFPB’s final rule on patient medical debt will take effect. 

A new Gallup Poll surveying people on what they value most from the healthcare system. Affordability and access to care were among the highest priorities for the respondents.

Peter Nelson has been tapped by the Trump administration to lead the CMS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO). CCIIO oversees the health insurance marketplaces. Nelson has been critical of the Biden administration’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act