RISE summarizes recent regulatory-related headlines and reports.
House advances health spending package
The House of Representatives this week voted 341-88 to advance a health care package that would fund the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through September 30. The bill, which is part of a broader bipartisan legislative package that funds the federal government through the end of this fiscal year, is now headed to the Senate.
The bill provides $116.6 billion in discretionary funding for HHS and $418 million for rural health, including increased funding for rural hospitals at risk of closing and more rural residency opportunities. In addition, the bill provides:
- $1.9 billion to support community health centers in underserved communities
- $1.4 billion to strengthen the health workforce and connect skilled health care providers to rural communities and other underserved areas
- $1.2 billion to support maternal and child health, including children with special health care needs
- $49 billion for the National Institutes of Health for basic biomedical research for cures to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, rare diseases, and chronic diseases
- $2 million for eating disorder identification, treatment, and recovery
- $3.2 billion for the research, development, and procurement of medical countermeasures to combat chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats
The bill also extends Medicare telehealth flexibilities for two years and advances reforms for pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), such as preventing the tying of compensation in Part D to the list price of drugs.
However, it doesn’t extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which made health care coverage premiums more affordable for millions of Americans. It also eliminates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Determinants of Health, which lawmakers said “promoted social engineering while distracting grant recipients from combating infectious and chronic diseases.”
FCA settlements, judgments exceed $6.8B in FY 2025
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $6.8 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025. It’s the highest in a single year in the history of the False Claims Act.
Health care fraud remained a leading source of False Claims Act settlements and judgments. Of the more than $6.8 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments, over $5.7 billion related to matters that involved the health care industry.
The DOJ also said whistleblowers filed 1,297 qui tam lawsuits, the highest number in a single year, and the government opened 401 investigations.
Since 1986, settlements and judgements now total more than $85 billion.
“Stopping rampant fraud is a top priority, and this record-breaking year proves the False Claims Act remains one of the government’s most powerful weapons against fraud,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.”
United States officially withdraws from WHO
The United States has completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization due to what the HHS said is the organization’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
The withdrawal was announced a year ago and since then the country has stopped funding the organization, withdrew personnel, and began to work directly with other countries and organizations on activities previously conducted with WHO.
Public health experts have expressed concern that the withdrawal puts the U.S. at a disadvantage when responding to infectious diseases within the country and abroad. In a statement, Ronald G. Nahass, M.D., president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the move short-sighted, misguided, and scientifically reckless.
"Whether facing emerging threats like Ebola or the persistent burden of annual flu outbreaks, international tracking is essential," he said. By withdrawing from WHO, the U.S. will no longer participate in the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, the vital platform for monitoring flu cases and sharing data and viral samples used to develop yearly flu vaccines. This will severely hamper efforts to match vaccines to circulating strains of flu."
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