• District of Columbia: Congressional leaders on Sunday reached a bipartisan agreement on $1.6 trillion of federal spending for 2024, but it's unclear whether the deal will get through the House and Senate before funding for the government starts to run out on Jan. 19. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the deal contains "hard fought concessions" from Democrats, including the cancellation of unspent pandemic aid, but noted spending levels are still above what some conservatives wanted. "These final spending levels will not satisfy everyone, and they do not cut as much spending as many of us would like," he said. The deal allows for $886.3 billion in defense spending and $772.7 billion in domestic discretionary spending. The House Freedom Caucus on Sunday issued a statement saying the deal is a "total failure" and "totally unacceptable." In a statement, President Biden said the deal "reflects the funding levels that I negotiated with both parties and signed into law last spring. It rejects deep cuts to programs hard-working families count on, and provides a path to passing full-year funding bills that deliver for the American people and are free of any extreme policies." (Bogage, Washington Post, 1/7; Ferek/Hughes, Wall Street Journal, 1/7)
• Maryland: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III has been hospitalized over the past week for complications that occurred after he had prostate cancer surgery, according to a statement from officials at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. An official at the hospital said Austin was admitted on Jan. 1 with severe abdominal, hip, and leg pain following a "minimally invasive surgical procedure" known as a prostatectomy while under general anesthesia the previous week. Austin was placed into intensive care where excess abdominal fluid was drained, and since then, "his infection has cleared," doctors said. (Cooper/Schmitt, New York Times, 1/9; Lamothe, Washington Post, 1/9)
• New Hampshire: In a 191-183 vote, state lawmakers on Thursday rejected Senate Bill 253, which would have permanently continued the state's expanded Medicaid program. The expanded program participants are low-income, like traditional Medicaid recipients, but don't meet other traditional eligibility requirements, including being younger than 19, having a disability, or caring for dependents. Following the vote, the expanded program will expire in seven years, after which lawmakers will decide on whether to continue it. House Republicans said they want to preserve the option to reconsider the expanded Medicaid program if the federal government reduces its contribution in the future or if it changes any other policies. (Timmins, New Hampshire Bulletin, 1/4)

By 2030, growth in demand and costs, coupled with new technologies and disruptors, will change how cancer care is delivered, experienced, and paid for. Read our four predictions about how the care delivery landscape will evolve across this decade. We share what the future will look like, what the implications will be for cancer programs and their partners, and what leaders across the industry can do now to prepare.