In 2025, Republicans will hold the majority in both chambers of Congress, and the incoming Trump Administration will preside over the executive branch. For healthcare issues at the intersection of access and equity, this trifecta of control will undoubtedly impact both the legislative and regulatory processes, presenting both opportunities and challenges for stakeholders and likely bringing about U.S. health care policy changes.

Though Republicans will control both chambers of Congress, the margins are slim, with a 218-212 majority in the House and a 53-47 majority in the Senate. For those interested in telehealth, health equity, artificial intelligence (AI) and life sciences, the next few weeks are critical as the contours of a potential end-of-year health package that could include telehealth, reauthorization of the Pediatric Priority Review Voucher program, the Accelerating Kids Access to Care Act and AI regulations are still taking shape. Reports have surfaced that leadership has been told to "clear the decks" of various healthcare priorities requiring extensions, including telehealth and funding for certain programs set to expire at the end of the year. However, these discussions are ongoing and may evolve for various reasons.

The full implications of the Loper-Bright ruling (overturning of the Chevron doctrine) remain to be seen; however, it is essential to remember that court decisions are party-blind. Furthered by a deregulation-focused administration and a slim-majority Republican Congress aimed at meeting party goals, a notoriously slow legislative progress may be slowed even further.

The Biden Administration had a focus on health equity, AI standards and oversight, Medicare and Medicaid access, and drug pricing substantiated by executive orders and rulemaking under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The incoming Trump Administration will likely bring about U.S. health care policy changes, utilizing its authority to roll back many Biden-era actions in these areas. CMS, for one, has received scrutiny in recent years from both sides of the aisle, with Republicans focused on inefficiencies and lack of sufficient savings and Democrats focused on certain systemic barriers to care, as well as evaluating certain CMS Innovation Center programs as a potential aggregator of consolidation.

Read the full article about U.S. health care policy changes by Sarah Starling Crossan at Holland & Knight.