Medicare is dominating Washington today. The House Energy and Commerce committee held a hearing on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and MACRA, with the American Medical Association pressing for payment reform. A separate bill from Rep. Murphy that would change how physicians are paid advanced out of committee, and lawmakers framed the conversation around whether current pay rates are pushing independent doctors into hospital-owned practices.

The fraud side of the ledger is just as busy. The Department of Justice seized $2 million in a data-driven Medicare fraud action, an Elevance executive was ordered to testify in a Medicare Advantage fraud case, and a new bipartisan bill targets scams in home health and hospice services. A separate effort would block AI-driven healthcare decisions from being used in Medicare claims.

Senate Democrats are pushing in the other direction — proposing to add a long-term care benefit to Medicare for the first time, and floating expanded coverage for home-based care. Outside of policy, a Minnesota "happy hour" law lets nursing-home residents enjoy a drink without the facility holding a full liquor license, and a Tennessee memory-care community is throwing a prom this weekend for its residents.