WASHINGTON WIRE
July 13, 2007
Issue 139
In this issue, you'll find:
Senate Finance Committee Reaches SCHIP Compromise
House Panel Approves Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bill
House Subcommittee Considers Mental Health Parity Bill
Top Story
Senate Finance Committee Reaches SCHIP Compromise
Senate Finance Committee leaders announced this week that they have reached a compromise on reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
With the program set to expire on September 30th of this year, reauthorization of SCHIP is a priority for many in Congress. However, there continues to be significant disagreement among lawmakers about how to pass the reauthorization into law.
The compromise package, expected to be introduced today, is estimated to cost $35 billion - significantly less than the $50 billion asked for by many advocates but far more than the $4.8 billion proposed by the Bush Administration.
Although the details for the proposal still remain unknown, a Presidential veto appears possible. President Bush spoke out this week against a robust expansion of SCHIP, referring to it as a step toward government-run healthcare. However, Republican Senators Charles Grassley (IA) and Orrin Hatch (UT) publicly urged the President this week to refrain from issuing veto threats, especially prior to reviewing the negotiated SCHIP package.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT), has scheduled a mark-up for Tuesday, July 17th.
Health Care News
House Panel Approves Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bill
The House Appropriations Committee approved its fiscal year (FY) 2008 spending bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education this week.
Under the legislation, the three departments would receive $151.5 billion in discretionary spending. This is approximately $7 billion more than appropriated for FY 2007 and $10.6 billion more that requested by President Bush for FY 2008.
Specifically, the bill would provide $68 billion for the Department of HHS including $29.6 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and $6.4 billion for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The Department of Education would receive $61.7 billion, which includes $25.6 billion for No Child Left Behind and $7 billion for Head Start.
Finally, the bill includes $11.9 billion for the Department of Labor, including $1.5 billion for dislocated workers assistance and $125 million for community-based job training grants.
The spending bill now heads to the House floor for consideration, which could happen as soon as next week. The President has indicated that he may veto any spending bills that exceed his requested discretionary cap.
House Subcommittee Considers Mental Health Parity Bill
The House Education and Labor Health Subcommittee held a hearing this week to examine mental health parity legislation.
Introduced by Congressmen Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN), the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 would require employers to offer mental health coverage equal to coverage offered for other physical medical conditions.
The Senate passed a mental health parity bill earlier this year which is less expansive than the House bill in terms of the benefits affected.
Of the House and Senate bills, many mental health advocates consider the House to be stronger. But groups such as the American Benefits Council and the National Retail Federation oppose the House bill, claiming it will drive up insurance costs.
However, an analysis by the consulting firm Milliman Inc. released this week and presented at the hearing, found that enactment of the House legislation could increase health care coverage costs for employers as little as 0.1 percent. The analysis estimated that the legislation would increase health insurance premiums by just 0.6 percent, or $2.40 per member per month.
It remains likely that mental health legislation will move in the House this year, although a mark-up on the bill has not yet been scheduled.
House Passes FDA Legislation
The House approved Food and Drug Administration (FDA) legislation this week to reauthorize the prescription drug and medical device user fees laws as well as implement a series of new drug safety measures.
The Senate approved similar FDA legislation in May. Although the two bills are comparable when it comes to several major provisions, they also differ in many significant ways.
Both bills put restrictions on consumer advertisements, although the House bill would impose larger fines for false or misleading ads. Additionally, the House bill would allow fines of up to $10 million for one violation of drug safety regulations and up to $50 million for multiple violations. The Senate would only allow up to $1 million in fines.
Stakeholders suspect that conferencing the two bills will likely prove difficult. And to complicate matters, Senate leaders hope to attach legislation regarding the approval of generic versions of biotech drugs to the bill during conference. However, the House has yet to take up any biotech legislation. The current prescription drug user fee act expires on September 30th and Congressional leaders hope to have a conference report completed before their August recess.
Upcoming Events
Hearings and Events
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Children's Health Insurance - Markup
Senate Finance Committee
Time: TBA, 215 Dirksen
Safety of Food Supply
House Energy and Commerce - Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
9:30 a.m., 2123 Rayburn
Veteran Health Bills - Markup
House Veterans' Affairs Committee
2 p.m., 334 Cannon
Federal Response to Alzheimer's
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions - Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging
2:30 p.m., 628 Dirksen
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
FDA Tobacco Regulation; Disease Research and Prevention Bills - Markup
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
10 a.m., 106 Dirksen
CMS, HHS, Treasury Nominations - Confirmation Hearing
Senate Finance Committee
10 a.m., 215 Dirksen
Expanded Funding For Mental Health and Addiction Programs
House Education and Labor Committee
10 a.m., 2175 Rayburn
Impact on Small Pharmacies of Cuts in Medicaid Drug Reimbursements
House Small Business Committee
10 a.m., 2360 Rayburn
Traumatic Brain Injury Symposium
House Veterans' Affairs Committee
10 a.m., 334 Cannon
Long-Term Care Workers and Abuse of Elderly
Senate Special Aging Committee
10:30 a.m., 628 Dirksen
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Health Care for Children in Foster Care
House Ways and Means - Subcommittee on Health
10 a.m., B-318 Rayburn
Veteran Health Centers
House Veterans' Affairs - Subcommittee on Health
2 p.m., 334 Cannon
For More Information
For further information on any topics discussed or publications listed, or to get copies of anything mentioned in this alert, please call (202) 466-6550 and ask for the Legislative Practice Group.
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