STAT+: What\u2019s in Congress\u2019 sweeping health care deal: PBM reform, telehealth, science funding
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WASHINGTON \u2014 Congress has reached a deal on several health care policies, including a crackdown on drug-industry middlemen, transparency measures for hospital billing, pediatric cancer research measures, and Medicare coverage of multi-cancer screening tests.<\/p>\n
Those measures are part of a bill to fund the Health and Human Services Department<\/a>, which itself is part of a package of government spending bills for labor, education, defense, homeland security, transportation, and housing. The appropriations bill would give HHS $116.8 billion for fiscal 2026, an increase of $210 million over 2025 and $33 billion more that the Trump administration requested.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both the Senate and the House still must pass the legislation, and details could change before then. Many of the reforms in the health care package were part of a deal Congress struck in December of 2024 that quickly fell apart after then President-elect Trump and Elon Musk attacked it. Government funding runs out at the end of the month.<\/p>\n Continue to STAT+ to read the full story\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n