On Tuesday, February 3, Congress passed five of the remaining appropriations bills, including the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill, which included $116.5 billion for HHS and rejected the administration's proposed cuts to health care programs.
The package included several health care provisions, including a two-year extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities, and transparency measures and rebate passthroughs for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). It also included the Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (MCED), which would allow for Medicare coverage of FDA-approved early detection screening tests, and which HOPA supports.
