Insights | Meridian Research Group | Page 38

Drug Pricing (IPI/MFN)

President Trump has repeatedly complained about the disparity in the price of drugs in the U.S. versus in other countries, and HHS/CMS explored international reference pricing during his first term. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s nominee to lead CMS, referenced the concept in his recent confirmation hearing. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a...

Tech / Media / Telecom

Antitrust (Google)

A bipartisan group of 38 state attorneys general (AGs) and the DOJ have filed their final remedies proposal in their antitrust case against Google. This follows a U.S. District Court decision that Google violated the Sherman Act by preserving its monopoly in general search services and search advertising through exclusive agreements with major...

With passage of a “continuing resolution (CR)” for annually appropriated government funding (i.e., grants/loans, government operations, not entitlements) through the remainder of FY25 (9/30), there is no major piece of legislation that has to be enacted prior to the likely debt limit “X date” (when the government runs out of cash), which is...

Energy, Financials, Healthcare, Macro, Tech / Media / Telecom

Senate Republicans continue to deliberate over the major issues associated with a single, broad-based budget resolution that allows for large-scale tax cuts and spending reductions, as was passed by the House and endorsed by President Trump (versus the narrower Senate-passed version that just focuses on border and defense spending). House...

Medicare Extenders

An offset to the -2.8% cut to Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) payments for CY25 was not included in the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), which would fund the government for the remainder of FY25 (through September)). Rep. Murphy (R-NC) – a member of the GOP Doctors Caucus and a leader on this issue – has indicated that House...

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Exchanges

HHS has issued a proposed rule entitled “ACA Individual Health Insurance Market & Exchange Program Integrity,” which includes regulatory changes that would limit access to ACA individual market plans and eligibility for premium subsidies. As constructed, HHS projects the rule would decrease enrollment by 750k to 2.1m (total) between 2026 and 2029...