WASHINGTON WIRE
July 24, 2009
Issue 209
House Leadership Might Skip Committee and Vote on Reform Bill Prior to Recess
Senate Finance Continues to Negotiate; Reid Says No Vote before Recess
Pay-Go Bill Passed in House, Likely to Face Opposition in Senate
House Passes FY 2010 Labor-HHS-Ed Spending Bill
Top Story
House Leadership Might Skip Committee and Vote on Reform Bill Prior to Recess
A few days after the House Energy and Commerce Committee postponed their mark-up of HR 3200, the American Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, there are signs that House Leadership might bypass the committee in order to have a floor vote on the bill before the chamber breaks for August recess. Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) postponed the mark-up this week to negotiate with fiscally conservative "Blue Dog" Democrat committee members who have expressed strong concerns about the cost of the bill, which has been priced at $1 trillion. Under pressure to meet the August recess deadline so as to assure a final bill's passage by the end of the year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has signaled that a floor vote might be scheduled even if the committee fails to complete the mark up in time.
Both the House Education & Labor and Ways & Means Committees have approved HR 3200. The House Energy and Commerce Committee marked up the bill for three days before pausing. For his part, President Obama has met with Blue Dog Democrats to try to work out a deal on more cost-savers to put in the bill. In a press conference this week, Obama backed off an August deadline, saying a bill by the end of the year would suffice.
Reportedly, the Blue Dogs are in favor of strengthening MedPAC - or creating another independent commission that would be given significant influence in setting Medicare payment rates - and other cost cutting measures such as hospital pay-for-performance, value indexing and bundling demonstrations. It is likely that the Senate Finance Committee could come out with similar proposals that would help gain the support of fiscal moderates and conservatives on the Senate Finance Committee.
Finally, House Majority Steney Hoyer (D-MD) indicated a floor vote might be postponed until after August after negotiations between Waxman and Blue Dog leaders fell apart Friday. Expect a final decision sometime next week.
Health Care News
Senate Finance Continues to Negotiate; Reid Says No Vote Before Recess
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters on Thursday that the Senate would not vote on a healthcare reform bill before leaving for Congressional recess August 7, an outcome that many could predict because the Senate Finance Committee has yet to reveal their portion of the legislation. The Senate HELP Committee has already released and approved their portion, which is priced at $600 billion.
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) is working closely with a handful of other committee members on a draft, bi-partisan compromise. The so-called "gang of six" includes Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Michael Enzi (R- WY) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME). But the committee members not included in the drafting sessions, including Finance Subcommittee Chairman Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), have begun to demand more input into the process, and Baucus reportedly has told these members that they will have an opportunity to makes changes - an opportunity that could further delay release of la draft bill.
The Senate Finance and HELP bills need to be merged before a bill is brought onto the Senate floor for debate and votes. President Obama had urged Congress to hold votes on reform legislation before the August recess - meeting that deadline could help ensure that a bill was on his desk by October. But as the process is extended, it appears that the end of the year will be the soonest Obama will sign a bill.
Pay-Go Bill Passed in House, Likely to Face Opposition in Senate
As House members face the possibility of a difficult vote on a $1 trillion healthcare reform package, they took the opportunity to pass legislation aimed at making it harder for Congress to add to the growing deficit, which might exceed $1.8 trillion this year. The bill would reinstate a "pay-as-you-go" process that requires increases in spending, including tax cuts, to be fully paid for. If legislation were to pass that breaks the "pay-go" rules, automatic spending cuts would be triggered.
Pay-go would be able to be waived in some circumstances. The rules would not be applied to appropriation bills, and the law exempts increases to Medicare physician payments. The legislation also permits Congress to renew many of the current tax cuts, initiated under former President George W. Bush's term, without paying for those renewals.
Although the legislation has the President's support, the fate of the bill is unclear, as it is likely to face substantial opposition from several Senators. An alternative Republican bill that would have capped appropriated spending was rejected.
House Passes FY 2010 Labor-HHS-Ed Spending Bill
On Friday, July 24, the House passed the FY 2010 Labor/HHS/ Education appropriations bill, HR 3291, which costs a total of $730.5 billion. HR 3291 is the largest of the 12 annual appropriations bills. The legislation includes $160.7 billion in discretionary spending, which is $52 million less than President Obama's request and $5.6 billion more than appropriated in FY 2009. NIH saw about a 3 percent increase over the FY 2009 funding level, which does not include the $10 billion for NIH that was passed in the economic stimulus bill.
The bill also allocates $64.7 billion for the Department of Education - $7.8 million less than requested. If the bill is enacted, HHS would receive a $6 billion increase from last year, to reach a total of $73.7 billion. The legislation gives the Department of Labor $13.3 billion, an $845 million increase from 2009 and about $23 million less than requested.
Upcoming Events
Hearings
Monday, July 27
Health Policy Terminations
House Energy and Commerce - Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
10 a.m., Hoosier Room, University Center North Building, Indiana University Southeast Campus, New Albany, Ind.
Wednesday, July 29
Medical Research
Senate Special Aging Committee
2 p.m., 562 Dirksen Bldg.
Thursday, July 30
Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor-HHS-Education
Senate Appropriations Committee
Full Committee Markup
Time TBA, location TBA
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