On The Hill

Health Update (August 17th)

Aug 20, 2018 | SHARE  
Defense/Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bills

 

Debate began on Wednesday over the Defense and Labor-HHS-Education spending bills, the $850 billion “minibus” which will fund defense spending and health care and education programs in FY19. If passed, it will be the first time that a Defense and Labor-HHS-Education spending bill was approved outside of an omnibus since 2007. There will be dozens of amendments filed in the coming days, but don’t expect many of them to get floor time. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) says the minibus could be approved by Labor Day.

 

The White House generally likes the defense spending bill, but it did offer some critiques of the Labor-HHS-Education bill, with one official calling some of the spending “wasteful.” The defense portion of the minibus (S. 3159) will cost $675 billion, while the Labor-HHS-Education portion (S. 3158) will cost $182 billion. Congress must pass the spending package ahead of the September 30th deadline to avoid another government shutdown.

 

Affordable Care Act Lawsuit

 

Oral arguments are set for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Texas. A judge will hear arguments on September 10th in the case seeking a preliminary injunction stopping enforcement of the ACA. 20 Republican state attorneys general filed the lawsuit in February. President Trump has indicated that he sides with the group’s goal of getting rid of the prohibition on eliminating coverage for pre-existing conditions, which continues to be a major political issue ahead of the November midterms. Meanwhile, three of the four health insurers in Austin offering plans on the ACA exchange have indicated they will raise insurance premiums in 2019.

 

Medicaid Work Requirements

 

A new study from the Urban Institute found that 55,000 individuals in Kentucky could lose health coverage because they don’t meet the 80 hour per month work threshold. That study can be read here. In Arkansas, 5,000 residents are at risk of losing their coverage because of failing to report work hours for two straight months. This is due to new state requirements, approved by the Trump administration this summer.  There are 44,000 total recipients subject to the rule, and over 5,000 of them have failed to comply with the new regulation. Critics say the rules are too burdensome, since only 844 recipients documented the 80 hours required. Advocacy groups in the state are suing to halt the work requirements. This is the second month of work requirements in Arkansas, the first state in the nation to implement such a rule.  The rule applies to people aged 30-49, with younger adults being phased in next year.

 

Hearings

 

The House Committee on Financial Services held a field hearing this morning in Kentucky to discuss the ongoing opioid epidemic. The hearing was entitled “The Role of Federal Housing and Community Development Programs to Support Opioid and Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery.” While the hearing was not broadcast, a press release will be coming over the next several days to highlight the discussion with Kentucky housing and mental health professionals about substance abuse treatment and modifications to federal housing programs to encourage reentry of affected individuals.

 

Next week, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Examining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Efforts to Fight Medicaid Fraud and Overpayments.” CMS Administrator Seema Verma and Comptroller General Eugene Dodaro will testify. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, 8/21 at 10:00 am.

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