Weekly Healthcare Policy Round-Up

In this week’s Health Policy Round-Up, ALF shares the most up to date news happening in Washington DC.

• Thanks to your efforts, the Honor Our Living Donors (HOLD) Act was signed into law on February 3^rd! This legislation will update existing policies by the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC) to ensure that living donors are reimbursed for their expenses without consideration of the recipient’s income. This new law helps remove financial barriers that prevent many people from donating, such as expanding access to federal reimbursement for travel, lost wages, and caregiving support. This is a big win for advancing living donation. Read more here.
• On February 3^rd, the House of Representatives voted to advance a funding package to end the partial government shutdown. These funding bills were previously passed in the Senate. The bills, known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, were signed by the President on February 3^rd. The legislation provides funding for the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Labor and Education through September 2026.
• On February 3^rd, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 into law, which includes Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reform. PBMs function as intermediaries between group health plans and insurance providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacies. The legislation prohibits PBM compensation to be based on the price of a drug. PBMs are allowed to be paid a “bona fide service fee” that reflects fair market value. The fee must be a flat dollar amount and cannot be based on or contingent upon drug prices, discounts, rebates, fees for covered drugs, or coverage or formulary placement decisions.