Congress returns to Washington this week. (In fact the Senate is in session now.)  June will be the last month of the Supreme Court’s current term. There are five Mondays in June on which opinions can be delivered, including the important ACA related decision in King v. Burwell.

Last Thursday, the Bipartisan Policy Center issued a set of recommendations on preventive healthcare  decision making focused on incorporating cost efficacy and community health concerns therein.   Modern Healthcare reflects on those recommendations here (note — the article’s headline is out of synch with its substance).

Last Friday, the FEHBlog noted that HHS is seeking public comment on the HIPAA health plan identifier which is now in a state of limbo (not an unusual status for HIPAA standards). Here’s a Health Data Management overview of that situation.  Here is recent provider testimony to HHS’s National Committee of Vital and Health Statistics (“NCVHS”) on the utility of a health plan ID.  What’s puzzling to the FEHBlog given all of the Congressional buzz over adding interoperability to electronic medical records is why isn’t HHS urging Congress to fund the adoption of a HIPAA patient ID. That certainly would aid interoperability.

The FEHBlog also found this update on CAQH CORE operating rules on the NCVHS website.  Congress as part of the ACA doubled down on HIPAA by incorporating into that law these privately developed rules intended to facilitate electronic claim transactionx. NCVHS is holding a two day hearing on the HIPAA standards and operating rules on June 16 and 17,