President Donald Trump signed the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act into law Feb. 3 after the House voted 217-214 to approve it, ending a three-and-a-half-day partial government shutdown.
The vote saw 21 Republicans reach across party lines to vote no and 21 Democrats vote yes.
The partial shutdown began Jan. 31 after Congress missed a Jan. 30 funding deadline. While the Senate voted 71-29 to pass the revised package late Jan. 30, it stalled in the House for three more days before making it to President Trump’s desk. The package included appropriations for five agencies, including HHS, through Sept. 30, plus a two-week stopgap measure for the Department of Homeland Security, a major point of contention in negotiations.
However, the two-week DHS funding extension merely delays the next potential challenge. Should lawmakers not be able to reach an agreement by Feb. 13, with Democrats demanding reforms to the administration’s immigration enforcement operations, another partial shutdown could take effect later this month, CBS News reported Feb. 3.
During the partial shutdown, HHS furloughed 23,128 employees, 31% of staff, but retained 51,082 employees through its fiscal 2026 lapse plan.
Here are five notes:
1. The law includes $116.6 billion to HHS while reducing departmental spending by more than $100 million, according to a news release from Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
It comprises $49 billion for the National Institutes of Health to maintain national leadership in biomedical research on cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and chronic diseases. The legislation also increases funds for mental health and substance use block grants, including programs such as first responder training grants, State Opioid Response Grants, suicide prevention grants and medication-assisted treatment services for substance use disorders.
2. The package extends pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities through 2027 and the CMS hospital-at-home waiver through Sept. 30, 2030. The shutdown disrupted hospital-at-home programs even before the new waiver extension took effect, as temporary lapses required hospitals to pause services to avoid violating Medicare Conditions of Participation.
3. Primary care is prioritized under the legislation, with $418 million for rural health, targeting rural hospitals at risk of closure and expanding rural residency opportunities. The funding package maintains $1.9 billion for community health centers that provide care in underserved communities and provides $1.4 billion to strengthen the healthcare workforce in rural and underserved areas. It also includes $1.2 billion for maternal and child health.
4. The law eliminates the CDC’s Social Determinants of Health program. It also provides $3.2 billion for medical countermeasures against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, a $73 million increase.
5. The package includes pharmacy benefit manager reform-related provisions that expand CMS oversight of PBMs in Medicare Part D. The bill requires the groups to report detailed data on drug pricing, rebates, pharmacy reimbursement and payments retained by PBMs and their affiliates and authorizes audits and enforcement actions, including requiring PBMs to repay money they were not allowed to collect or keep. It also directs CMS to monitor reimbursement and network participation trends for “essential retail pharmacies,” with reporting requirements to begin in 2028.
The post Government reopens after partial shutdown: 5 notes appeared first on Becker's Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.
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