Summary
The House and Senate are both in session this week finishing out a busy March before heading into a two-week spring recess period. If Republicans manage to coalesce the votes, the House will bring up H.R. 1, the “Lower Energy Costs Act”, a package of reforms to increase domestic energy capacity and reduce associated regulatory and permitting barriers. The 175-page measure combines several individual bills reported out of the House Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer has declared the measure “dead on arrival” in the Senate. The Senate is expected to finally vote on legislation repealing the Iraq war authorizations on Wednesday, after a nearly two-week floor process that will have included around a dozen GOP amendment votes.
Hearings
This week, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra continues to sell the President’s FY 2024 budget proposal to Congress by appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday and the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. The $144 billion proposed budget for HHS includes an $8 billion increase to enhance Medicare benefits by expanding diabetes prevention and increasing access to behavioral health, among other proposals. For Medicaid and CHIP, it includes $138 billion in investments over 10 years to support equity and sustainability plus another $150 billion for home and community-based services (WHG summary). Secretary Becerra testified before the Senate Ways and Means Committee (details) and the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee (details) last week.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is planning a hearing on Tuesday titled: Lowering Unaffordable Costs: Examining Transparency and Competition in Health Care.
On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee will convene a hearing titled An Oral Health Crisis: Identifying and Addressing Health Disparities.
Also on Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture will have a hearing on the Department of Agriculture’s FY 2024 budget request. Secretary Tom Vilsack will be testifying on the President’s request for $30.1 billion in discretionary funding for the USDA, a $3.8 billion increase from the FY 2023 enacted level. Included in the proposal is $7.1 billion for critical nutrition programs, including $6.3 billion specifically for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). (WHG summary).
On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Finance will hold a hearing to examine pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and the prescription drug supply chain, focusing on the impact on patients and taxpayers.