October 29, 2025
[MDT, Otsuka] Renal Denervation: Broad Coverage, With New Guardrails
We view CMS’s final coverage policy for renal denervation (RDN) [Medtronic (MDT), Otsuka (4578.JT)] as largely consistent with the initial proposal, but with some modest new guardrails that may incrementally slow utilization and delay /…
October 27, 2025
Capitol Policy Weekly: Trade, the Fed and the Continuing Government Shutdown
This week’s main policy focus will be on: 1) trade; 2) the Fed’s decision on interest rates, where a 25-bps cut is widely anticipated on Wednesday; and 3) the government shutdown. President Trump is in…
October 27, 2025
GKOS: iDose Coverage Question Tea Leaves
The questions to be addressed at a November 12 Contractor Advisory Committee (CAC) on GKOS’s iDose bolster our expectations for real, but likely manageable, headwinds via an eventual local coverage determination (LCD), which we suspect…
October 27, 2025
Health Insurers & Providers 4Q25 Issue Items
Even amid a government shutdown, the remaining months of 4Q25 promises various policy catalysts across the health insurer and provider landscapes, informing company growth and revenue prospects for the year ahead. To help investors keep…
October 23, 2025
GKOS: iDose Smoke or Fire?
We view the weakness in GKOS shares this week as somewhat overdone following the announcement that iDose will be the subject of a Nov. 12 Contractor Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting among five Medicare Administrative Contractors…
October 22, 2025
(DE, ADM, MOS, TSCO) The Farm Complex: We’re from Washington and We’re Here to Help
We continue to see a few positive developments for the farm complex and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins’ comments late yesterday that the administration was going to provide $3 billion in aid to farmers from…
October 21, 2025
Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP): Seems Less About Hospitals and More About Systemic Change [CYH, ARDT, THC, municipal facilities, OMDA, TDOC, RDNT]
As the November 5 deadline approaches for state submissions to the highly anticipated $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), uncertainty remains about whether – or even how – these funds will reach hospitals [CYH,…
October 20, 2025
Capitol Policy Weekly: Government Shutdown, Russia-Ukraine and Trade
The top story in Washington this week remains the government shutdown, but a potential meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov in talks to try and end the…
October 17, 2025
Medtech & Biopharma 4Q25 Issue Items
Even amid a government shutdown – and in some ways because of it – 4Q25 promises a large number of policy catalysts across the medtech, diagnostics, life science tools (LST), and biopharma landscapes, informing company…
October 17, 2025
Trump’s Fertility Push May Cut Costs, But Adoption Barriers May Remain [PGNY, Maven, Carrot, MRK.GY]
The Trump administration’s new guidance on employer-sponsored fertility benefits and deal with Merck KGaA’s (MRK.GY) EMD Serono to sell select fertility drugs at most-favored-nation (MFN) prices, which were announced Thursday, boosts visibility for companies like…