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A three-month highway spending bill scheduled for a vote Wednesday in the House includes nearly $3.4 billion to fill a budget hole that the Department of Veterans Affairs claims would force it to close hospitals and clinics nationwide. Lawmakers from both parties said the spending was needed even as they complained about the VA's failure to anticipate the problem. An amendment sponsored by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, would allow VA to use $3.35 billion from the new Veterans Choice program to pay for private health care for veterans from May 1 to Oct. 1. (7/28)

The Pentagon is poised within days to award one of the most coveted health information-technology contracts in history — the first phase of a deal that could ultimately be worth more than $10.5 billon over the 18-year life of the contract. This is the first major federal IT contract since HealthCare.gov, which was so plagued by defects that hundreds of thousands of Americans were initially frustrated in trying to sign up for health insurance. The effort, designed to provide a much-needed upgrade to the current system used by 9.5 million military personnel, including active duty and retirees, is being hotly pursued by three of the heaviest hitters in private industry: Epic Systems, Cerner and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions. (Nutt and Brittain, 7/27)

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander is confident that Congress will next year clear a bill that's intended to help speed the introduction of new medical treatments. "This is a train that will actually get to the station," Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, told a Bipartisan Policy Center event on Monday. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., has been urging rapid action on any Senate companion to his so-called 21st Century Cures bill (HR 6), calling on Alexander to pass a bill addressing concerns such as making electronic health records more user-friendly and then move for a conference with the House. Waiting until next year could make it harder to pass a sweeping regulatory bill during an election. The House passed Upton's bill, 344-77, earlier this month. (Young, 7/28)