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Senate lawmakers approved a $3 billion budget stopgap for the Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday, preventing a threatened delay in the delivery of some veterans benefits checks next month. The move came just two days after House lawmakers advanced the same appropriations measure, which also mandates a report from department officials on the reasons behind the department’s budget shortfall within a month. The legislation is expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden before the end of Friday. ... Through the first 10 months of fiscal 2024, VA staff granted disability compensation benefits to more than 1.1 million veterans and survivors, a new record. (Shane III, 9/19)

Thousands of veterans will resume paying a portion of their prescription medication cost following a two-year suspension of the requirement at five Veterans Affairs facilities served by the department's new electronic health records system. The VA is notifying affected patients in the Pacific Northwest and Ohio this week by letter and email of the impending change, which will go into effect Oct. 1. (Kime, 9/19)

Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.), a key Republican senator with seats on the chamber’s health and finance committees, introduced a bill to let some small drugmakers avoid Medicare price negotiations. (Wilkerson, 9/19)

A Senate committee Thursday overwhelmingly approved two resolutions compelling testimony from a hospital executive who resisted a subpoena to address the lawmakers a week ago. The panel is seeking civil and criminal action against Ralph de la Torre, the CEO of Steward Health Care, following a 20-0 vote on both resolutions, with one abstention. The senators approved a resolution seeking civil enforcement and a criminal contempt charge against the executive after he refused to appear before the committee under subpoena on Sept. 12. (Alltucker, 9/19)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News: American Health Under Trump — Past, Present, And Future

Dreaming of a Trump victory, Republicans have a wish list of health policy changes — including loosening Affordable Care Act regulations to make cheaper coverage available and ending Medicare drug price negotiations. ... Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins University join Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News senior editor Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more. (Huetteman, 9/19)