This week, Congress and the White House need to finalize a government spending bill in order to avoid a shutdown. While all signs point to a deal being reached, it is widely expected that several agencies will be operating on a continuing resolution for the first couple months of fiscal year 2019. While the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education are expected to receive a full appropriation prior to September 30th, the FDA, which is funded through the Department of Agriculture, is expected to be funded through the continuing resolution, which will go through December 7th. 

Also making news on Capitol Hill this week: will Congress pass an opioids package? Interestingly, we wait and see which outstanding provisions make the final package. This includes language regarding the IMD exclusion as well as issues surrounding patient privacy. 

We cover this and more in this week's health care preview, which you can find by clicking here.