“Pop quiz, hotshot. There’s a bomb on a bus...” Doesn’t it feel like we are in the 1994 movie Speed? We are not as good-looking as Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock were 30 years ago, but there’s a similarly strong sense of OMGWEHAVETOHURRY. That’s why President Biden is pardoning everyone and every federal agency is churning out rules and guidance like there is no tomorrow. (Proof here, here, and here – and that’s just CMS.) What does this mean for health policy? Excellent pop quiz question. The answer, with all due speed, is coming to you in the One Thoughtful Paragraph.
Some health policy news that is coming as fast as a speeding bus:
- The HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) is churning out last-minute enforcement actions, proposed rules, and guidance, including the proposed updates to the HIPAA Security Rule, nine enforcement actions (see here, here, here), and a January 10, 2025, “Dear Colleague” letter, warning providers and payers not to discriminate against patients when they use AI-supported tools.
- The HHS Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP/ONC) published four things just now: a draft of the United States Core Data for Interoperability Version 6(USCDI v6); the 11th annual Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) Reference Edition; a NOFO to fund health IT solutions that use FHIR to help move TEFCA along; and a preview of HITAC’s agenda for 2025.
- The DOJ’s Drug Enforcement Administration published a proposed rule that would create a registration process for telehealth providers who seek to prescribe controlled substances and also finalized a rule that allows telehealth providers to prescribe buprenorphine, an opioid use disorder treatment.
“Did you have any luck with the bomb? Jack: Yeah, it didn’t go off.” It is Keanu Reeve’s deadpan delivery as the cop “Jack” — who prevents tragedy from two bomb threats in the movie Speed — that catapulted him into acting greatness. We, too, will be great if we can stay ahead of our own version of Speed’s city bus bomb. But how are we supposed to know whether our speedy interpretation of all of this federal policy activity will stick? For instance, the Maverick team did a short and long summary of the 200-page HHS AI Strategic Plan, and the latest guidance on AI-supported tools for drugs and devices from the FDA. While we trust that the new HHS Chief Health AI Officer, Meghan Dierks, MD, is worthy of the daunting tasks before her — how do we know if the Trump administration will keep any of these plans in place? Indeed, how do we know Dr. Dierks will have her job after next week? It feels like Keanu Reeve’s disconcerting response as Jack in Speed to another cop’s question: Anything else that’ll keep this elevator from falling? Jack: Yeah. The basement.
Maverick Health Policy is pleased to announce the addition of three senior policy advisers to our team: Christine Bechtel, Nathan Buttrey, and Marci Nielsen, PhD, MPH. Check us out and stay tuned for more announcements soon. https://www.maverickhealthpolicy.com/about/
