Congress Returns to Town

Posted on July 10, 2017July 10, 2017

After its July Fourth recess, Congress returns to Washington for three weeks before leaving town for a scheduled five-week August recess.

The Senate Republicans are still trying to address intra-party differences on a “repeal and replace” healthcare bill. In the House, the Appropriations Committee continues to press forward on its versions of FY2018 spending bills even as the assumed total amount of funding available for the bills will require changes to existing law; the Senate appropriators are also attempting to move their first bill this week as well.

No Vote This Week on Senate Healthcare Bill

Posted on June 27, 2017

On Tuesday, the Senate Republican leadership postponed a vote on its healthcare legislation until at least after the chamber returns from its week-long July 4th recess.

CBO Estimates 22 Million Would Lose Coverage Under Senate Bill

Posted on June 26, 2017

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the entity charged with estimating the potential impacts of legislation, released this afternoon its analysis of the Senate version of the healthcare legislation aimed at replacing the Affordable Care Act.

In its view (the “score”), the CBO reports that the bill would lead to 22 million individuals losing coverage by 2026. The CBO believes that 49 million individuals would be uninsured by 2026.

Text of Senate Healthcare Bill Released

Posted on June 22, 2017

As promised, the Senate Republican leadership released earlier today the text of the healthcare legislation that was being worked on by a small group of Republican Senators. The 142-page bill has a number of provisions of importance to the University of Washington and other institutions of higher education, including those related to possible changes to Medicaid.

This bill is an attempt by Senate Republicans to craft its own legislation in response to the House’s version of a bill to “repeal-and-replace” Obamacare. At this point in time, the future of the measure remains uncertain as a number of Republican Senators have expressed their opposition to it in its current form.

The text of the measure is available here.

Collins to Stay On as NIH Director

Posted on June 7, 2017

Yesterday, the White House announced that Dr. Francis Collins will continue to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Collins has led the NIH since 2009 and previously led the NIH Human Genome Research Institute.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders wrote a letter to the President asking him to keep Collins.