The Washington Report

April 23, 2025

Note to Subscribers

While we do our best to provide timely updates, it is possible that the information shared in the newsletter may change after our publication deadline.

Executive

 

President Signs EO Announcing Actions to Lower Prescription Drug Costs
On April 15, 2025, the President signed an Executive Order (EO) to expand upon efforts to lower prescription drug prices. The EO directs the Department of Health and Human Services to take steps to reduce drug prices, including improving the Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiation Program, standardizing Medicare payments for prescription drugs, and offering discounts to low-income patients for other medications. The EO also states that insulin prices for low-income patients and the uninsured will be reduced to as low as $0.03, (plus an administrative fee); and that injectable epinephrine for low-income patients and the uninsured will be as low as $15, (plus an administrative fee). Please refer to the EO for additional information.

The EO is available here.

A Fact Sheet is available here.

Other HR/Employment

 

IRS Publishes Notice Eliminating Unnecessary IRB Guidance
On April 14, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2025-22, which “starts the process of eliminating extraneous and unnecessary Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB) guidance by identifying and obsoleting nine IRB guidance documents.” This Notice is in response to the February 2025 Presidential Executive Order 14219, Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Deregulatory Initiative. Consistent with the Executive Order, the Treasury Department and the IRS, in conjunction with the Department of Government Efficiency, have undertaken a review of regulations and IRB guidance issued under the Internal Revenue Code to identify guidance to be eliminated. The IRS states that the review is ongoing and the agency anticipates “revoking or obsoleting hundreds of similar guidance documents in the near future.” Please refer to the Notice for specific details.

IRS Notice 2025-22 is available here.