Summary
This week, the House is preparing to consider H.R. 1868, a legislative fix introduced by House Budget Committee Chair John Yarmuth (D-KY) to stop automatic cuts to Medicare and other programs subject to PAYGO sequestration. The increase in deficit spending from the recently enacted $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2) will trigger Pay-As-You-Go cuts, including roughly $36 billion to Medicare, according to the Congressional Budget Office. While H.R. 1868 is expected to pass in the House, its future in the evenly split Senate is less certain.
H.R. 1868 would provide additional relief to health care providers by extending the moratorium on the two percent Medicare sequester from March 31, 2021 to December 31, 2021. Additionally, the bill would make several technical corrections, including modifying the Medicare enrollment deadline for Medicare Rural Health Clinical payment changes to December 31, 2020 instead of December 31, 2019 and ensuring certain hospitals, particularly those located in California, do not inadvertently receive a reduction to their Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments.
The House is also scheduled to vote on (and expected to pass) a slate of health-related bills, including two bills passed by unanimous consent in the Senate that aim to increase competition and lower prescription drug prices:
- Advancing Education on Biosimilars Act of 2021(S.164) – Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create and maintain a public website to educate providers and patients about biosimilar drug products.
- Ensuring Innovation Act (S. 415) – Seeks to clarify the meaning of “new chemical entity,” which is used by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine whether to grant a drug product five years of market exclusivity.
In addition, the House will vote on:
- FASTER Act of 2021 (S. 578) – Requires food allergen labels to include sesame and a report describing ongoing federal activities aimed to improve the health and safety of individuals living with food allergies and related disorders.
- TRANSPLANT Act of 2021 (H.R. 941) – Reauthorizes the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program and the National Coord Blood Inventory.
John Lewis NIMHD Research Endowment Revitalization Act of 2021 (H.R. 189) – Facilitates research on minority health disparities through research endowments at current or former centers of excellence
Key members of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response team will appear before the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Wednesday (March 17) and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday (March 18) to discuss the federal government’s response to COVID-19. The E&C Subcommittee will hear from Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to Biden; Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and Dr. Peter Marks, Director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees the approval or emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccines. This panel, along with Dr. David Kessler, Chief Science Officer, will appear before the Senate HELP Committee. Their discussions will likely focus on the status of the COVID-19 vaccine supply, distribution, and administration, as well as challenges to ensuring an equitable vaccine rollout.
The Senate Finance Committee will examine the impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes on Wednesday (March 17). The panel includes representatives from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and American Health Care Association (AHCA). Today, AHCA, along with LeadingAge released Care For Our Seniors Act, a reform agenda to improve the quality of care in nursing homes.
Lastly, the Senate is expected to vote, and approve, the nomination of Xavier Becerra to serve as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, this week.