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Medicare has a new proposal to pay hospitals more to stockpile essential drugs — an idea that comes as doctors report running low on critical chemotherapies and other drugs. But experts caution the policy could cause the very shortages that government officials are trying to avoid. For years most of the solutions for addressing drug shortages have involved giving the Food and Drug Administration more power. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress empowered the FDA to make drug companies create backup plans for manufacturing facility interruptions, and to collect information from drug makers on where they source ingredients. (Wilkerson, 7/18)

As the U.S. struggles with prescription drug shortages, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has advanced a modest plan that she hopes will prod Washington to take decisive action to address weaknesses in the international pharmaceutical supply chain. Noem told reporters at a pharmacy in Sioux Falls last week that her state will expand its stockpiles of certain medications that have been in short supply. The Republican former congresswoman also used the occasion to turn up the heat on the federal Food and Drug Administration, urging the agency to make the U.S. less dependent on foreign suppliers like China and India. (Karnowski, 7/17)

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday proposed a broader coverage for a type of brain scan, used to identify a key Alzheimer's disease protein, that will be needed for doctors to determine whether patients are eligible for newly developed drugs. The agency proposes to remove the once-per-lifetime limit on beta amyloid PET scans that restricted their use to clinical trials. The changes will permit Medicare beneficiaries to seek reimbursement for the tests. (7/17)

CMS released its highly anticipated proposed physician fee schedule last week, and it quickly drew applause — and scorn — from industry groups. The 1,920-page document lays out how the agency proposes to pay doctors in the Medicare system in 2024. CMS touted it as a win for health equity, price transparency and behavioral health. (Leonard and Payne, 7/17)

The Labor Department will require large employers in certain high-risk industries to electronically file injury and illness reports to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, starting next year. The agency intends to use this information for “strategic outreach and enforcement” to reduce harm to workers, OSHA head Doug Parker said in a statement Monday. (Niedzwiadek, 7/17)

The diplomatic delays come as hundreds of U.S. military promotions — including the appointment of the commander of the Marine Corps, leaving an acting leader in charge for the first time in more than 100 years — blocked by a single Republican senator from Alabama, former football coach Tommy Tuberville. He objects to the Defense Department’s efforts to provide reproductive and gender-affirming care to service members. “By failing to confirm these nominees, a handful of senators are keeping our best players on the sidelines,” Blinken said. (Wilkinson, 7/17)

As Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited a natural gas drilling site in northeast Ohio to promote House Republicans’ plan to sharply increase domestic production of energy from fossil fuels last month, the signs of rising global temperatures could not be ignored. Smoke from Canadian wildfires hung in the air. When the speaker was asked about climate change and forest fires, he was ready with a response: Plant a trillion trees. (Groves, 7/18)