As lawmakers prepare to head back to Capitol Hill next week, the heads of influential committees on health will make a strong push to pass major medical innovation legislation in September.
According to a Republican aide close to the negotiations with Senate and House GOP leaders, a final deal could receive floor votes in both chambers without too much fuss if the House goes first. That would mean that a final bill — agreed to by sponsors in both the House and the Senate — would be substituted into an existing House bill and passed in the lower chamber. Once the House sends that bill to the Senate, it would require only one 60-vote threshold motion before final passage in the upper chamber. At the most, the Senate vote would take a few days. With cooperation among all senators, it could be dispensed within a few hours.
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