The FEHBlog had been wondering what was going on with the Postal Reform bill that includes a new Postal Service Health Benefits Program. It turns out that the House Oversight and Reform Committee plans to mark up the latest draft of that bill on Thursday morning. The FEHBlog plans to tune in for this meeting.

In health equity developments —

• The Wall Street Journal reports that “Ride-sharing companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. will make all rides to and from vaccination sites free until July 4 under a new partnership with the White House. * * * While the companies were already providing free or discounted rides in some circumstances, the rides will now be free to anyone in the U.S. who is going to a vaccination site to get the shot, and Lyft and Uber will promote the rides to and from tens of thousands of vaccination sites through their apps. The feature will launch in the next two weeks and run until July 4.”
• Health Leaders Media informs us about Horizon Blue Cross’s ongoing efforts to advance health equity in New Jersey in cooperation with healthcare and community organizations as well as solid data.
• The American Medical Association released a “strategic plan to embed racial justice and advance health equity.” “With the input of many both inside and outside of AMA, this strategic plan serves as a three-year roadmap to plant the initial seeds for action and accountability to embed racial justice and advance health equity for years to come.”

In regulatory developments –

• Professor Katie Keith in the Health Affairs blog provides background on yesterday HHS decision to “interpret Section 1557 and Title IX, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
• Fierce Healthcare reports that “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has sent its first wave of warning letters out to hospitals breaking federal rules requiring them to disclose payer-negotiated prices, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed.”
• Healthcare Dives discusses healthcare organization comments to HHS’s Office for Civil Rights on its proposed rule that would make generally helpful adjustments to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, in the FEHBlog’s opinion.

Miscellaneous tidbits —

• Reg Jones discusses the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program in FedWeek.
• The Society for Human Resources Management writes about “Supporting Mental Health in the Post-Pandemic Workplace.”
• Health Payer Intelligence discusses Blue Cross of North Carolina’s successful effort to consolidate member experience data from across the company to boost member satisfaction.