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A House committee on Wednesday passed a bill to renew a program aimed at aiding development of drugs for rare diseases in children, putting it in a better position to be added to government funding legislation. The pediatric rare disease priority review voucher program is set to end on Sept. 30. The legislation would extend the program until Sept. 30, 2029. (Wilkerson and Mast, 9/18)

Bills that would extend expiring telehealth and hospital-at-home authorities and reverse a regulation establishing staffing mandates for nursing homes are ready for final votes in the House after committee consideration Wednesday. The Energy and Commerce Committee met to vote on a number of healthcare bills at the session. Among them was the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024, which passed unanimously. (McAuliff, 9/18)

House and Senate Democrats are pushing leadership to quickly pass legislation to permanently expand subsidies on the health care exchanges — ideally by the end of the year. Forty-one Senate Democrats, led by New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and 154 House Democrats, led by Lauren Underwood of Illinois, sent a letter to leadership Wednesday morning urging their respective chambers to move “as soon as possible.” (Cohen, 9/18)

A diverse group of House Republicans torpedoed Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) proposal to fund the government on Wednesday, dealing an embarrassing blow to the GOP leader and derailing his strategy to avoid a shutdown at the end of the month. Fourteen Republicans joined virtually every Democrat in voting against the spending plan — which paired a six-month stopgap bill with a measure that would require proof of citizenship to vote — bringing the final tally to 202-220, with two voting present. Three Democrats crossed the aisle to back the measure. (Schnell, 9/18)

A $3 billion hole in veterans benefits funding is closer to being filled, but the Friday deadline to fix the issue without potentially disrupting payments to veterans is fast approaching, with lingering questions about whether the Senate can act quickly enough. The House on Tuesday easily approved a bill to provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with $3 billion the agency says it needs in order to ensure benefits checks due Oct. 1 can go out on time. But the Senate still needs to approve the bill, and doing so before Friday will require the consent of every senator -- and at least one senator is raising the possibility of objecting. (Kheel, 9/18)

A lawyer for Steward Health Care chief executive Ralph de la Torre on Wednesday blasted congressional efforts to investigate the executive’s role in the crisis that thrust the hospital chain into bankruptcy, arguing that de la Torre’s refusal to testify is protected by the Fifth Amendment. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on civil and criminal referrals for contempt of Congress over de la Torre’s refusal to testify at a hearing last week despite being subpoenaed. (Pressman, 9/18)