Insights: Policy

Energy, Infrastructure

Public sentiment related to data centers has continued to deteriorate in recent months. This has resulted in both state-level and federal attention, as well as engagement from an increasingly broad swath of stakeholders. TX Gov. Abbott’s pause on data center approvals is notably reflective of this trend.

Tech / Media / Telecom

Chinese Open-Source AI Models

In the last two weeks since news emerged of Chinese tech firm Moonshot AI allegedly stole U.S. IP to create its recently released Kimi K3 model, policymakers and industry stakeholders have been debating how to respond. Administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Wiles, Treasury Secretary Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Lutnick...

Tech / Media / Telecom

AI Model Regulation

The White House met with Anthropic, Google, Meta, and OpenAI yesterday to discuss its framework for AI model reviews, which was called for in a June Executive Order (EO). The White House does not plan to publicly release the framework, but some details have emerged. The framework reportedly establishes a “voluntary” process whereby only the most...

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Boozman (R-AR) indicated earlier this week that he will be holding a hearing to consider the Farm Bill on August 6. Individuals close to the negotiations have indicated that the bill will include language allowing the year-round sale of E15.

Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Reimbursement

CMS released the final FY27 Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System rule, which takes effect October 1. CMS finalized a 2.4% payment-rate increase, comprising a 3.3% market-basket update minus a 0.9% productivity adjustment, which is projected to increase aggregate SNF payments by approximately $883m. Notably, CMS did not make...

Medicare Advantage (MA) Star Ratings

In response to the Clover ruling, CMS recalculated Clover’s PY26 Star Rating from 3.5 to 4.5 stars and voluntarily extended a partial recalculation to the broader MA market. On July 21, CMS appealed the decision to the Eleventh Circuit.