Summary
This week’s main event is President Biden’s first State of the Union address tomorrow evening. While the President’s remarks will have a significant focus on national security, we anticipate his speech will also touch on the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 response and health care priorities. Biden may provide some direction to lawmakers on which health policies of the Build Back Better Act to advance in a narrower package (e.g., extending enhancement of premium tax credits, lowering prescription drug prices). Whether a bill will pass this year is an open question, given the time constrains and multiple priorities – e.g., FY 2022 omnibus appropriations by March 11, bipartisan interest to advance mental health and pandemic preparedness bills, and November elections.
Other events this week include a Senate vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act; House committee hearings on COVID-19’s impact on health care and substance use and suicide; and MedPAC and MACPAC meetings.
Women’s Health Protection Act
The Senate is scheduled to vote today on the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA, H.R. 3755), which would codify the right for health care providers to provide, and their patients to receive, abortion services. WHPA, which passed the House mostly along party lines (218-211), is not expected to clear the Senate due to the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Instead, the vote is intended to get all senators on the record on Roe v. Wade before the midterm elections.
The Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, is expected to issue a decision in the spring on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which involves a Mississippi law that prohibits nearly all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. Allowing the Mississippi law to stand would effectively overturn Roe v. Wade, which protects the right to abortion prior to fetal viability (around 24 weeks). Biden’s nominee to replace liberal Justice Steven Breyer – Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson – will not alter the Supreme Court’s ideological balance. However, if confirmed, Judge Jackson, who has been praised Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice, will play a critical role in shaping reproductive rights in the future.
MedPAC
Later this week, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) will convene to discuss a range of issues, including beneficiary experience, workforce, and payment reform. Specific topics include:
- Findings from MedPAC’s annual beneficiary and clinician focus groups;
- Guidance on future work to better support safety-net providers;
- Policy options to strengthen the geriatric workforce;
- Proposed approaches for integrating episode-based payment with population-based payment (a focus for the ongoing work at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation); and
- Revised approach to Medicare Advantage risk adjustment.
MACPAC
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) will hold sessions on policy levers to promote health equity, considerations in redesigning the home- and community-based services benefit, and rate setting. Additionally, MACPAC will discuss recommendations for the June Report to Congress related to:
- Directed payments in managed care;
- Improving the uptake of electronic health records by behavioral health providers;
- Requiring states to develop an integrated care strategy for dually eligible beneficiaries; and
- Access to vaccines for adults enrolled in Medicaid.