Winning Edge Content The Health Care Preview Podcast

This is the last week a chamber of Congress will be in town until after the November election. The Senate is here, but health care will not be a top agenda item. Instead, the Senate will remain focused on college sports legislation and may consider a bill focused on data centers.

Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee was scheduled to vote on five nominations, including for three US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominees. That committee vote was postponed due to a lack of quorum and is now scheduled for Wednesday, September 30. The Senate Finance Committee last week advanced to the Senate floor the nominations of Chris Klomp for Deputy HHS Secretary and Ge Bai for Assistant HHS Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The full Senate could consider their nominations this week before leaving town.

However, with most attention on the Senate floor focused on non-health care items, and the potential for the Senate to leave town on Wednesday, those nomination votes could get pushed back to post election, depending on what is being prioritized on the floor before leaving town. It is also possible that the HELP Committee’s Wednesday vote on other HHS nominees – Nicole Saphier for Surgeon General, Timothy Westlake for Assistant HHS Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and Mary Lazare for Assistant HHS Secretary for Aging – could again get postponed to after the election.

Given this is the last week a chamber of Congress will be in town until after the election, the Preview will not be published on our regular, weekly cadence until post-election. If you did not receive this Preview in your inbox but would like to receive it most  Mondays, subscribe here.

The House left town last Wednesday after three days in session, and the chamber won’t return until after election day. The Senate is still in town, with most focus on college sports legislation and nominations. The Senate is scheduled to be in town for the next two weeks but could leave this week depending on what they get done.

While still in town, the Senate’s health care agenda is sparse, as most attention is on college sports legislation. However, the Senate aims to advance additional nominations. On Thursday, September 24, 2026, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will vote on five nominations, including three health care nominees:

• Nicole Saphier, nominated for Surgeon General
• Timothy Westlake, nominated for Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Mary Lazare, nominated for Assistant Secretary for Aging, HHS

The Senate HELP and Finance Committees held nomination hearings last week for Chris Klomp, nominated for Deputy Secretary of HHS. His nomination only has to advance out of the Finance Committee, and a vote is yet to be scheduled. After the HELP Committee votes on nominations on Thursday morning, it will consider the nomination of Heidi Overton for Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is unclear whether there is time for Senate floor votes on those nominations this week, or if the chamber would stay in town for part or all of next week to confirm those nominees.

On the administrative front, we await the Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare (CRUSH) proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and potential rulemaking on Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs), recently rebranded as CHOICE arrangements. Additionally, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) will hold its first public meeting of the 2026-2027 cycle this Thursday and Friday, with sessions focused on Medicaid work requirements, state directed payments, and home- and community-based services.

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Congress is back, and so is the Preview

The House and Senate are both in session this week, marking the first time both chambers have simultaneously been in town since July. It is likely to be the last time both chambers are in town at the same time until after the midterm elections. The House has a packed agenda this week before they leave town again until November 9. The Senate is scheduled to be in session for the next three weeks, but they could leave earlier than that.

Last week, the House Rules Committee announced it would consider a health care fraud bill, the “Protecting Taxpayers from Health Care Fraudsters Act,” setting it up for House floor consideration and potential inclusion in an end of year package. The committee later postponed consideration of that bill. However, the House Ways & Means Committee is rumored to announce a markup today of both health and non-health bills, anticipated for Wednesday, September 16. The Protecting Taxpayers from Health Care Fraudsters Act may appear on that agenda. The committee could also mark up legislation related to MedPAC’s Medicare Advantage analysis, Medicare coverage of Alzheimer’s screening and early detection blood tests, and a Medicare demonstration for medically tailored meals. As of the time of this publication, the markup had not yet been noticed.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee, Health Subcommittee will hold a legislative hearing Tuesday September 15 to discuss bills related to Medicare provider payment and cybersecurity. Legislation on the agenda includes H.R. 8163, the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act, which would reform budget neutrality in the Medicare physician fee schedule, and H.R. 9693, the Patients First Act of 2026, which was introduced by the GOP and Democratic Doctors Caucuses and would tie Medicare physician payment to inflation.

Health care action in the Senate is concentrated on nominations this week. On Tuesday September 15, the Senate Finance Committee will hear from Chris Klomp, nominated for Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Ge Bai, nominated for Assistant HHS Secretary. Klomp previously served as Director of the Center for Medicare at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and currently is Chief Counselor at HHS. Bai is currently a Professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Then on Wednesday September 16, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Klomp, Nicole Saphier, nominated for Surgeon General, and Timothy Westlake, nominated to oversee the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Saphier is a radiologist and former Fox News contributor, while Westlake is the current SAMHSA Chief of Staff. Some of these nominations could be considered on the Senate floor this month.

This is the first Health Care Preview at Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies. If you did not receive this Preview in your inbox but would like to receive it every Monday, subscribe here.

Debbie Curtis and Rodney Whitlock join Maddie News to give a trailer of The Health Care Preview, a new weekly podcast breaking down the latest health policy legislative and regulatory developments. In the trailer, the team breaks down what is on the health policy agenda for the remainder of the year and outlines what listeners should expect on the Preview, starting with the first official episode Monday, September 14.