Letters, Statements & Analysis

As mostly non-pediatric organizations representing public health, older adults, patients, family caregivers, consumers and healthcare workers, we support everyone having access to every vaccine they need, regardless of their age. In the United States alone, routine childhood vaccinations for children born between 1994 and 2023 are projected to prevent about 1.13 million deaths, and hundreds of millions of illnesses and hospitalizations. Put simply, childhood vaccines make healthy adults.

On Nov. 9, the Senate voted to end the longest federal government shutdown in history, with Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) promising to hold a floor vote on a bill to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) in mid-December. On Nov. 19, the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing to discuss solutions to lower Americans’ health care costs, in which witnesses and Senators primarily focused on the role of the ACA.

AMCP commends ACIP’s commitment to regularly reviewing the scientific evidence underlying national immunization recommendations. We recognize the importance of maintaining guidance that is both scientifically rigorous and operationally feasible across diverse care settings. In that spirit, we offer the following comments on the Committee’s ongoing consideration of vaccine safety and the hepatitis B vaccine birth-dose recommendation.

On Sunday, November 9, Senate Majority Leader Thune announced that he had reached an agreement with a group of 8 Democratic senators and the White House on a deal to end the longest shutdown in U.S. history. On Monday, November 10, the Senate approved the government funding bill by a vote of 60-40, which sends the legislative package back to the House of Representatives.

President Donald Trump announced a series of agreements with Eli Lilly and Company and Novo Nordisk to offer Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) prices on two GLP-1 therapies, semaglutide (brand names Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound). This marks the fourth and fifth publicly announced agreements between the Trump administration and pharmaceutical manufacturers, joining earlier announcements with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and EMD Serono. The manufacturers also agreed to cap prices for insulin products and other commonly prescribed diabetes medications.

On Saturday, October 11, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 41, a bill that limits certain business practices employed by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in California. This bill follows previous attempts by the governor to regulate PBMs, including changes implemented in the budget that require PBMs to obtain a license, submit detailed operational and financial statements annually to the Department of Managed Health Care, and act in the best interests of health plans and covered individuals.

Under the current Continuing Resolution passed on March 15, government funding will expire at 12:01 AM ET on the morning of Oct. 1. A Continuing Resolution (CR) extends government funding at existing levels in lieu of passage of a regular appropriations bill—occasionally with minor fiscal changes or additional policy “rider” amendments included—for a predetermined amount of time. Unless Congress reaches a deal on an additional funding package, federal government activities and operations deemed “nonessential” will temporarily cease, while “essential” functions and mandatory spending such as Social Security and Medicare payments will continue under contingency plans determined by federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Since 1980, there have been 14 government shutdowns, with the longest and most recent shutdown to date occurring from Dec. 22, 2018 – Jan. 25, 2019 under the first Trump administration.

Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) abruptly announced the firing of former CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez, which was followed by the resignation of several CDC officials including former CDC Chief Medical Office Dr. Debra Houry.

The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) thanks the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the opportunity to provide comments in response to the “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2026 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; and Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program” (Proposed Rule), issued on July 16, 2025.

On September 9, 2025, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission released the “Make Our Children Healthy Again (MOCHA) Strategy,” which follows an earlier report that assessed key drivers of childhood chronic disease, including poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, and overmedicalization. Executive Order 14212, signed by President Trump on February 13, tasks the commission with providing government-wide recommendations on policy and strategy to address the identified contributing causes and end the childhood chronic disease crisis.

With the end of August recess, Members of Congress returned to Washington D.C. this week to tackle government funding and the remaining policy priorities not included in the One Big Beautiful reconciliation Bill (H.R. 1).