THE HILL | Rather than a red wave, the 2022 congressional midterms brought a ‘red ripple’. 

With races still being decided and votes counted, Democrats have won control of the Senate, despite a runoff in Georgia. It looks like Republicans will take back the House — albeit with a much smaller majority than they had hoped. 

What does this all mean for health policy? With a divided Congress, President Biden’s ability to pass major, sweeping legislation along party lines (like the Inflation Reduction Act) falls to the wayside. But it doesn’t mean legislating comes to a standstill. Contrary to popular opinion, Congress has passed major health-related legislation with bipartisan support in recent years. This includes:

• The No Surprises Act, which passed as part of 2020 appropriations legislation, established new federal protections against surprise medical bills;
• Major opioid legislation of 2018, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act;
• The 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, which modernized the development and delivery of drugs and medical devices and advanced research into serious illness;
• And the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), which repealed the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate formula and changed the way that Medicare rewards clinicians for value over volume.

Read the full article here: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/3734558-how-the-red-ripple-could-impact-health-policy-in-2023-and-beyond/