Midweek update

CNBC reports that on Tuesday December 4, the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee approved for Senate floor consideration the nomination of Stephen Hahn, MD, to be Food and Drug Administration commissioner. The vote was 18-5. The Senate leadership intends to hold a confirmation vote this month.

Govexec.com provides an update on the 2020 federal employee pay increase.

The House-passed version of the [FY 2020 appropriations] bill [for OPM] includes an average 3.1% pay raise for federal civilians, which includes a 2.6% across-the-board raise and an average 0.5% increase in locality pay. The Senate, by contrast, did not include any language on compensation in its iteration of the measure, effectively endorsing President Trump’s alternative pay plan to provide a 2.6% across-the-board raise but no increase in locality pay.  If Congress does not act on its own to override Trump’s plan, he still will need to issue an executive order finalizing the 2.6% across the board raise by the end of the year.

Last month, CMS issued final price transparency rule for hospitals, effective January 1, 2021, and a proposed out of pocket cost transparency rule for health plans. This week a group of hospital associations and individual hospitals challenged the final rule in federal court here in the District of Columbia, and two major health plan associations requested an addition 90 days to comment on the proposed rule according to Fierce Healthcare reports.

Beckers Hospital Review reports that vaping illnesses now have been detected in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Alaska was the last state to record a case.  "As of Nov. 20, the CDC has received reports of 2,290 EVALI cases nationwide. Forty-seven deaths have also occurred in 25 states.".