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News and updates

News and updates

What We’re Reading, March 23-27

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Here’s a  selection of articles the Office of Federal Relations has been reading this week.

Deal or No Deal? – The House Republicans and Democrats are increasingly optimistic that they have a deal to fix the Sustainable Growth Rate formula for Medicare. Maybe they will? Read more at The Hill.

Not Anymore – And then, the bipartisan health deal has hit a snag…the Senate. Read more at The New York Times.

Truth Teller – As the 2016 presidential field begins to take shape, some are taking unique tactics on how to engage votes. Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) has decided to pick honest and is telling his party, “You can’t govern angry.” He’s at the bottom of the polls. Read more at Politico.

Budgets, Doc Fix, and Reid Retiring

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Breaking News: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid will not run for reelection in 2016, he said in a video message released this morning.

Budget: GOP leaders in the House and Senate have achieved a major goal of approving their fiscal 2016 budget resolutions this week. The House approved their proposal on Wednesday with the Senate following suit in the early morning hours Friday. The two chambers now face the task of reconciling their two bills before the April 15th deadline, which would establish the framework for annual appropriations bills and set the direction for other legislation through the privileged reconciliation process. The last time lawmakers adopted a budget conference report was in 2009. Both budgets push more funding to the military while laying the groundwork to dismantle the health care overhaul.

Doc Fix: On Thursday the House approved a package to replace Medicare’s oft-criticized physician payment formula in an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The legislation (HR 2) passed 392-37, with 212 Republicans and 180 Democrats joining to support the deal negotiated by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

If it clears the Senate, the bill will put an end to a cycle of 17 short-term “doc fix” bills that temporarily averted cuts to Medicare doctors dictated by the sustainable growth rate formula, or SGR. In addition to replacing the formula, the bill includes a two-year extension of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Teaching Health Centers for another two years, and would require wealthier seniors to pay more for their Medicare outpatient and prescription drug coverage to help offset the cost. The measure is only partially paid for, with the Congressional Budget Office projecting that it would increase the federal deficit by $141 billion over 11 years.

Unfortunately, the Senate left for a two-week recess early this morning without taking any action on the bill. Instead they have vowed to make it their first order of business when they return to the Capitol on April 13th.

The current one-year payment patch expires in four days and CMS has said it doesn’t have any plans to hold off on processing claims as it has done in the past to buy Congress time. But in an email to health professionals, the agency noted that electronic claims aren’t paid until at least 14 calendar days after they’re received, providing something of a cushion before doctors feel the scheduled cut. CMS also said it would provide an update by April 11 about whether Congress has acted.

Busy Budget Week in Congress

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It’s shaping up to be a busy week as Capitol Hill continues its efforts to finally pass a repeal and replacement of the much-maligned Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) or “Doc Fix.” While a group of bipartisan legislative leaders released the broad outlines of a proposal last week, we are sure to see more detailed legislative language as early as today – and the official cost of the proposal. A vote could take place later this week, just a few days before the increased rates are to take effect (March 31st) if Congress takes no action.

In addition to impending action on the SGR proposal, Congressional leaders from both chambers continue to debate their respective budget resolutions. Unlike the potential SGR fix, the budget debate will be largely partisan and include attempts (again) to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The result of these budget negotiations could go a long way toward setting up their overall strategy — and the tone for what they accomplish — heading into the heart of the legislative year.

Congress will then recess for a two-week Easter break, returning to the Capitol on April 13th.

 

What We’re Reading, March 16-20

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Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.

SXSW – An overview of the big issues heard at SXSWEdu. Read it at The Chronicle.

NO! – A response to the Congressional Republican budgets, or 10 reasons not to cut education funding. From the White House blog. 

We Did It Our Way, For Now – House fiscal conservatives in the House Budget Committee managed to muster enough votes to pass their budget proposal. It was 24 painful hours of stops and starts, failed whip counts (from the Republican Whip Steve Scalise) and much drama. Read about the drama at Roll Call.

Schock & Awe – Congress lost one of it’s youngest Members (and avid Instragrammer), Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) this week in what has been a slow spiraling discover of increasing malfeasance. The final straw? Milage reimbursements. His decision to resign was so quick, that Speaker Boehner heard about it at the press conference (and probably his staff too). Read about Rep. Schock’s political last hours at Politico.

House Budget Bill — Update

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After a marathon markup that ran late into the evening, the House Republicans passed the bill out of the Budget Committee along a party line vote this morning. Late last night, the House Republican caucus seemed sharply divided between defense hawks and those committed to cutting spending.

According to an analysis from the Committee for Education Funding, the House Republicans’ proposed 2016 budget would make cuts to student aid that are deeper than meets the eye and would hurt funding for major education programs. The budget would eliminate expansions to the income-based repayment program, public sector loan forgiveness and in-school interest subsidies for undergraduate Stafford loans. The three changes, in addition to cuts to the Pell Grant program, would add up to tens of billions of dollars in federal savings.

The House budget also plans changes to non-defense discretionary spending in future years that will squeeze other education programs, which will more than likley lead to cuts to Head Start, Title I, IDEA and other programs.