There's increasing bicameral interest in making comprehensive changes to the federal 340B drug discount program — though it's unclear how much money the plans would save, Victoria reports.

Why it matters: Surging sales over the past five years have put 340B on pace to become one of the largest federal drug programs, per Avalere. But it's mired in litigation and competing state efforts to set rules of the road.

Driving the news: House Energy and Commerce members signaled interest in new transparency requirements and addressing provider consolidation during an oversight hearing on Tuesday, increasing the likelihood that policy changes could be rolled into a year-end health deal.

• A 340B bill from Reps. Larry Bucshon, Buddy Carter and Diana Harshbarger that's backed by the pharmaceutical industry would codify the definition of a 340B patient and reset eligibility requirements for hospitals.
• Bucshon told Axios that he's still trying to find Democratic co-sponsors in the face of sharp criticism from hospitals and health systems in the program.
• "There's some Democratic support, and I'm not going to mention names, but there is," he said.

Across the Capitol, senators are still working on a 340B draft discussion bill that could define covered patients. It is expected to respond to the growing number of drugmakers that have restricted when providers can use 340B discounts at contract pharmacies.

• Sen. John Thune said he was hopeful the draft could be circulated by August recess.
• "There's a lot of good work being done on it," Thune told Axios. "Hopefully we'll have something to report later this summer."
• Sen. Debbie Stabenow, one of the Democratic leads in the Senate working group, is intent on getting a 340B reform bill passed before she retires, which could give the effort extra lift.

Friction point: Hospital lobbyists are pushing back hard against the House bill, calling it a drug industry wish list and saying it would make many facilities ineligible for the program and create onerous compliance requirements.

What we're watching: The level of lawmaker interest pursuing reforms could hinge on how CBO scores the bills, Avalere noted. The numbers game could factor such variables as whether 340B discounts are putting upward pressure on launch prices for drugs.

Sens. Tammy Duckworth, Patty Murray and Cory Booker want to establish a nationwide right to in-vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technology while lowering the costs of IVF treatment.

Why it matters: The package could be brought up next week. It's part of Democrats' reproductive health blitz timed to roughly coincide with the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision.

What's inside: The Right to IVF Act consists of four bills, two of which were blocked by Republicans earlier this year when sponsors sought unanimous consent for passage.

• Duckworth's Access to Family Building Act would establish a statutory right to access IVF and other assisted reproductive health services, and confer rights on doctors who provide IVF and health plans that cover it.
• Murray's Veteran Families Health Services Act would expand fertility treatments covered under active duty servicemembers' and veterans' health care.
• Booker's Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act would require employer-sponsored plans and other public insurance plans to cover fertility treatments.
• Duckworth's Family Building FEHB Fairness Act would extend such requirements to the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program.

The other side: GOP-backed legislation from Sens. Katie Britt and Ted Cruz would cut off Medicaid funding to states that prohibit IVF services.

Context: Safeguarding IVF became a focus after the Alabama Supreme Court in February ruled that embryos created through the process are children under state law.

What we're watching: While the package isn't expected to garner 60 votes, it and a right-to-contraception bill due to be taken up today keep reproductive health in the spotlight as Democrats look to make gains in swing states.

1. Contraception vote: A Senate bill to establish a right to buy and use birth control, Plan B, condoms and other forms of contraception is likely to stall in a procedural vote today amid opposition from Republicans, who dismiss it as unnecessary and overly broad. More from CNN.

2. Psychedelic therapy: FDA advisers overwhelmingly recommended against using the drug ecstasy combined with psychotherapy to treat PTSD, possibly derailing what would be the first psychedelic drug approval in the U.S., Axios' Maya Goldman reports.

3. Drug shortages: The average drug shortage lasted for over three years at the end of 2023, up from about two years in 2020, per a new report from U.S. Pharmacopeia that said over half of new shortages were among generic sterile injectables.

4. Health care deals: Private equity firms are slowing acquisitions of smaller medical businesses as Biden administration regulators focus on health care roll-ups and their effects on competition, the WSJ reports, citing PitchBook Data.

5. Heart disease: 45 million American adults will have cardiovascular disease by 2050 and the prevalence of hypertension will reach 61% by then, the American Heart Association forecasts.