The contours of power are taking shape a week after Election Day: Democrats will control the Senate in 2023 by a margin of one or two votes. Republicans have the House but with a narrow majority. Until the new Congress is seated in January, Democrats will continue to have unified control. Next year, Democrats won’t be able to use the budget process that enabled them to enact Covid-19 relief legislation and to reform drug pricing as they did in the current Congress. Instead, they’ll have to work with the GOP. Oliver Kim, the health policy director of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, spoke with Ben about what to expect during the lame-duck session that will bring 2022 to an end, and thereafter. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. What do you expect will be the health care priorities in the lame-duck session and in the new Congress? In the lame duck, it’ll be the omnibus spending bill. And my questions are: Can they tack on the FDA policies left off the user fee reauthorization, any additional pandemic work and Medicare physician payment issues? All of us are trying to wrestle with what the next Congress will look like. I’m wondering how the debt limit plays into larger conversations on taxes and entitlements. Sen. Bill Cassidy is now in line to be the ranking member of the Senate HELP committee after Sen. Rand Paul announced he’s seeking the top Republican oversight role. How do you see Cassidy? Cassidy is often involved in deal-making. A lot of the stakeholders inside the Beltway would feel more comfortable and welcome Cassidy in a leadership role. What provisions are more likely to be included in the omnibus? It depends on where some of the retiring members want to focus their chips. Sen. [Richard] Burr is retiring, and he’s been influential in a lot of different things, from FDA drug issues to pandemic preparedness. It depends on where he wants to push. [Energy and Commerce Chair Frank] Pallone and [ranking Republican Cathy] McMorris Rodgers did a lot of things on the user fees that didn’t make it into what was passed in September. They’ll have a say, too. How significant is Democrats’ holding the Senate in terms of getting health care nominees confirmed? Being able to expedite some of those with potentially 51 votes is going to be pretty big. You don’t have to schedule some of these key votes around the vice president’s schedule. And the president’s ability to move judges is going to have a huge impact on health policy. A lot of the lawsuits on the Affordable Care Act are up to statutory interpretation. What can get done on a bipartisan basis in the new Congress? They both have an interest in the use of tech, whether digital apps or telehealth, and to modernize the way agencies integrate that. There’s definitely an interest in payment issues. There’s still interest in behavioral health and the opioid crisis. Americans have gotten used to free Covid tests, vaccines and treatments. Does that end next year? It seems like a lot of things will disappear. There are still insurance mandates tied to the public health emergency, but that’s only for people who have insurance. Those who are uninsured may have less ability to get a test or vaccine.
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