Health Care Week in Review | Federal Government Shutdown Continues; CDC Adopts ACIP Vaccine Recommendations

Below is Alston & Bird’s Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies, and analyses; and other health policy news. 

 Regulations, Notices & Guidance

Due to the government shutdown, no regulations, notices, or guidance were published in the Federal Register by relevant agencies this week.

Event Notices

Please note that two asterisks (**) preceding the item indicate a new event. 

• October 14, 2025: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a meeting of the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory Council. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• October 15, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the National Cancer Advisory Board Ad hoc Working Group on Extramural Research Concepts and Programs. This is a virtual meeting open to the public.
• October 15-16, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the National Library of Medicine Board of Scientific Counselors. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• October 17, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the NIH Clinical Center Research Hospital Board. This is a hybrid meeting open to the public.
• October 21-22, 2025: The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) announced a meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of Veterans. This is an in-person meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• October 27-28, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine. This is a virtual meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• October 27-29, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute on Aging. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• October 29, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• October 29, 2025: VA announced a meeting of the Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee. This is a hybrid meeting open to the public.
• October 31, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee. This is a virtual meeting open to the public.
• November 6, 2025: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a meeting of the Digital Health Advisory Committee. This is a virtual meeting open to the public.
• November 10, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the Council of Councils. This is a virtual meeting open to the public.
• November 13, 2025: FDA announced a meeting of the Pediatric Advisory Committee. This is a virtual meeting open to the public.
• November 16-18, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• December 1, 2025: NIH announced a peer review meeting of the draft National Toxicology Program (NTP) Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity Technical Report on 2-Hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone. This is a hybrid meeting open to the public.
• December 1, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. This is a hybrid meeting open to the public.
• December 4, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• December 4-5, 2025: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced a meeting of National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice. This is a hybrid meeting open to the public.
• December 5, 2025: NIH announced a meeting of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• December 10, 2025: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a town hall meeting on fiscal year (FY) 2027 applications for new technology add-on payments. This is a virtual meeting open to the public.
• December 10, 2025: FDA announced a workshop entitled, Advancing the Development of Pediatric Therapeutics (ADEPT) 10: Addressing Challenges in Neonatal Product Development -- Leveraging Rare Disease Frameworks. This is a hybrid meeting open to the public.
• January 23, 2026: NIH announced a meeting of the National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health. This is a virtual meeting open to the public.
• January 26-27, 2026: NIH announced a meeting of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. This is a virtual meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• February 9-10, 2026: NIH announced a meeting of the Fogarty International Center Advisory Board. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• March 30-31, 2026: NIH announced a meeting of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• May 4, 2026: NIH announceda meeting of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. This is a hybrid meeting open to the public.
• June 1-2, 2026: NIH announced a meeting of the Fogarty International Center Advisory Board. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• June 5, 2026: NIH announced a meeting of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.
• September 10-11, 2026: NIH announced a meeting of the Fogarty International Center Advisory Board. This is a hybrid meeting with some sessions open to the public.

Reports, Studies & Analyses

• On October 7, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report entitled, Medicare Could Have Saved $301.5 Million if Bundled Payment Rates for Opioid-Use-Disorder Treatment Services Had Reflected Services Provided to Enrollees. The report presents findings from an audit evaluating whether Medicare’s bundled payments for opioid-use-disorder (OUD) treatment services accurately reflected the services delivered by opioid treatment programs (OTPs). OIG compared Medicare’s bundled payments with payment amounts it calculated for individual OUD treatment services provided during corresponding episodes of care. The audit found that in 89 out of 100 sampled items, bundled payments exceeded the OIG-calculated payment amounts based on the actual OUD services OTPs provided. The discrepancy stemmed from CMS’s methodology, which did not account for the specific combinations and frequencies of OUD services provided by OTPs. OIG estimated that Medicare could have saved nearly $301.5 million if CMS’ bundled payments rates accurately reflected the types and frequency of OUD treatment services delivered. OIG made three recommendations to CMS, including: (1) use the audit findings or collect additional information on the combination and frequency of OUD treatment services provided to Medicare enrollees; (2) consider revising the methodology used to determine the nondrug component of weekly bundled payment rates; and (3) work with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) or a designated agency to monitor OPT activities to ensure they have properly documented OUD treatment services in enrollees’ treatment plans. CMS concurred with the first recommendation, but did not concur with the second and third recommendations.
• On October 7, 2025, HHS OIG released a report entitled, Many Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Care Plans Have Limited Behavioral Health Provider Networks and Inactive Providers. The report evaluated the extent to which selected Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicaid managed care plan networks were limited, and whether providers listed in plan directories were actively delivering services to enrollees. OIG found that many MA and Medicaid managed care plans had limited behavioral health provider networks, often including inactive providers who did not provide services to enrollees. Providers cited administrative burden and low reimbursement rates as factors affecting their willingness to work with managed care plans. OIG outlined three recommendations, including: (1) monitor provider networks and take additional steps to improve the accuracy of MA network directories; (2) work with States to improve the accuracy of Medicaid managed care network directories; and (3) continue exploring how a nationwide directory could reduce inaccuracies and increase administrative efficiency for providers and patients. CMS neither concurred nor nonconcurred, but noted that it has taken actions aligned with each recommendation.

Hearings & Markups

• On October 8, 2025, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property (IP) held a hearing entitled, The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act – Restoring Clarity, Certainty, and Predictability to the U.S. Patent System. Witnesses included: Mr. Mark Cohen, Senior Technology Fellow, Asia Society of Northern California and Senior Fellow, University of Akron Law School; The Honorable Andrei Iancu, Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Former Undersecretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; The Honorable David Kappos, Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Former Undersecretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; Mr. Mike Lemon, Vice President, Legal Affairs, National Retail Federation; Mr. Richard Blaylock, Partner, Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw & Pittman LLP; Mr. Steven Caltrider, Chief IP Counsel, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Ms. Sue Peschin, President and CEO, Alliance for Aging Research; and Mr. Corey Salsberg, Vice President, Global Head of IP Affairs, Novartis.
• On October 8, 2025, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing entitled, Bad Medicine: Closing Loopholes that Kill American Patients. Witnesses included: Mr. Tony Sardella, Founder and Chair, API Innovation Center, Distinguished Fellow of Health Innovation, Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School; Mr. Tony Paquin, President and Chief Executive Officer, iRemedy Healthcare, Inc.; Mr. Andrew Rechenberg, Economist, Coalition for a Prosperous America; and Dr. Marta E. Wosińska, PhD, Senior Fellow, Center on Health Policy, The Brookings Institution.
• On October 9, 2025, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing entitled, AI's Potential to Support Patients, Workers, Children, and Families. Witnesses included: Dr. Russ B. Altman, Kenneth Fong Professor and Professor of Bioengineering, of Genetics, of Medicine, of Biomedical Data Science, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; Mr. John Bailey, Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Ms. Harriet Pearson, Managing Principal, Axia Advisory; Dr. Juliet Schor, Professor, Boston College; and Mr. Carlos Aramayo, President, UNITE HERE Local 26.

Other Health Policy News

• On October 6, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its COVID-19 and varicella (chickenpox) immunization schedules to reflect recent recommendations by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). For the COVID-19 vaccine, CDC now recommends individual-based decision-making. CDC clarifies that decisions should be based on patient characteristics, including “risk factors for the underlying disease as well as the characteristics of the vaccine itself and the best available evidence of who may benefit from vaccination.” Recommendations based on individual-based decision-making allow for coverage across all payment mechanisms, including plans authorized by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Vaccines for Children (VFC). CDC also recommends that toddlers through age three receive the chickenpox vaccine as a standalone immunization, rather than in combination with measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
  
  CDC has also updated the ACIP website to announce the postponement of its next meeting, originally scheduled for October 22 and 23, 2025. The panel had been expected to deliberate on the recommendation for hepatitis B vaccination at birth.
  
  In addition to these updates, on October 8, 2025, CDC published a document outlining a multi-year effort to assess the “safety and effectiveness of the childhood and adolescent schedule” through the establishment of a Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule Workgroup. This Workgroup will prepare information for ACIP to enable them to make recommendations in areas including: (1) the timing and order of vaccines; (2) the concurrent administration of various vaccines and other immunizing products; (3) the safety of ingredients found in multiple different vaccines; (4) the efficacy and safety of vaccine schedules used in different countries; and (5) implementation considerations. The document includes examples of topics for discussion, including whether “either of the two different aluminum adjuvants increase the risk of asthma.”
  
  A press release on the updated recommendations can be found here. The CDC document outlining the Workgroup’s objectives can be found here.

• On October 9, 2025, the Senate failed for the seventh time to advance funding legislation to end the government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025. The House-passed Republican continuing resolution (CR) was rejected by a vote of 54-45, falling short of the 60 votes required to proceed. Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Angus King (I-ME) voted alongside Republicans in favor of the bill, while Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) did not vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reiterated that Democrats will not support a CR unless Republican leadership agrees to negotiate a permanent extension of enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs) for ACA Marketplace plans, which are set to expire on December 31, 2025. The House-passed Republican CR would extend current government funding levels through November 21 and includes the short-term extension of expiring health programs and authorities, including Medicare telehealth flexibilities, the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver and funding for community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program.

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