ML Strategies' most recent weekly Health Care Update highlights bipartisan efforts on the 21st Century Cures Initiative.  Congress continues to address bipartisan initiatives affecting healthcare this month (after replacing the SGR), with the House Energy and Commerce Committee announcing it plans to release a new draft of the 21^st Century Cures Initiative legislation. The E&C Committee will hold a legislative hearing on 21^st Century Cures with testimony from the FDA and NIH. Congress is also focusing on the FY 2016 budget, and ML Strategies reports that health care issues continue to be front and center – with debates over Medicare and Medicaid funding, and some talk of defunding the ACA through the budget reconciliation process. Other highlights in this week’s Update include coverage of CMS’s evaluation of electronic prescribing, an ONC blog post on Health IT efforts, a Senate Commerce Committee meeting to discuss advancing Telehealth through connectivity, and a Senate Finance Subcommittee hearing on the ACA's medical device tax.

Click here to read last week’s full Health Care Update.