G2G Bio Bulletin – June 15, 2026
Updates from Washington
Congress:
- Reconciliation: As expected the House passed the $70 B package to fund immigration enforcement agencies for the next three years, by a narrow margin of 214-212 on a party line vote. President Trump signed the bill into law on Wednesday.
- FY 2027 Appropriations:
- On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee advanced the bill funding most of HHS, by a party-line vote of 34-28. This brings the House tally to nine bills that have passed the committee stage, and two that have passed the whole chamber. The final bill which funds Defense, cleared the subcommittee stage on Thursday.
-
Senate appropriations markup that was expected to start this past week was postponed, due to a lack of agreement on top-line funding levels.
- Other Legislation, Hearings & Committee Activity:
-
On Wednesday, the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee convened its latest hearing as part of a series on health care costs and transparency. Several bills or draft pieces of legislation were considered, including ones on requiring providers to share detailed pricing information with patients, reforms to pharmacy benefit managers, site-neutral payments, private equity in healthcare and Medicare Advantage.
-
On Wednesday, the House passed two bills addressing fraud in federal payments:
-
Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act: Uses the structure of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee to establish a government-wide inspector general (IG) office at the Treasury focused on fraud. The IG is authorized to audit and gather data from all federal agencies on awards in excess of $50,000, inclusive of R&D funds. The bill passed 240-181, with all Republicans and 28 Democrats voting in favor. Democratic opposition centered on concerns that the IG’s placement outside of an independent agency would allow the Administration to terminate federal programs at will.
-
Stopping Fraudulent Payments Act: Requires agencies to pause payments and take corrective actions if they determine that there’s an elevated risk of an improper or fraudulent payment. The bill passed 218-200, with all Republicans in favor, and all but six Democrats against.
-
-
Administration & Agencies:
- CMS:
- The agency has written to states indicating that it will pursue a more robust oversight regime over experimental Medicaid programs launched under the Section 1115 waiver scheme, in order to ensure their compliance with federal budget neutrality requirements.
- This coming week, the agency will publish a proposed rule on its plan for the fourth cycle of the Medicare drug price negotiation program, that would cover 20 eligible drugs and would take effect in 2029. Among other provisions, the rule aims to set a price floor for biotech products developed by small firms, and target prices of combination products ineligible for negotiation, but whose formulations include eligible drugs.
- NIH: Last week, the agency indicated that it is considering a policy to cap the number grants awarded to any one principal investigator with the aims of supporting more researchers, improving oversight and ensuring equitable distributable of funding to institutions across the country. Comments on the proposal are due on August 3.
- CDC: The agency has launched a Level 3 emergency response to address incidences of screwworm in livestock.
- White House, Other HHS Agencies & Departments
-
340B: HHS has settled a lawsuit it filed against a Kentucky hospital, alleging that the provider violated 340B purchasing policy. Additionally, last week, a federal district judge ruled against a coalition of pharmaceutical companies in their effort to block implementation of a new Washington state law that prevents manufacturers from imposing restrictions on pharmacies participating in the drug discount program.
-
ACA: Citing violations of the Administrative Procedures Act, a district court has overturned major provisions of an Administration rule on Obamacare that would have added fees and additional compliance requirements on enrollees.
-
DoD: The department has added biotech companies BGI and Wuxi Apptec onto its list of ‘Chinese Military Companies’ as required by the BIOSECURE Act that was enacted last year.
-
Reminder: Don’t miss the monthly GBG Report call every third Thursday of the month at 12 pm ET where the team discusses the latest federal life sciences funding opportunities. G2G has raised $612M and is eager to share our expertise to help companies grow and accelerate bringing innovations to patients.