Summary
The deadline to fund the government for fiscal year (FY) 2022 is this Friday, March 11. Democrats are pushing to include COVID-19 supplemental funding in the FY 2022 appropriations omnibus, along with Ukraine assistance. “Democrats have made a reasonable global offer to Republicans and it is my hope that we will reach an agreement very soon so that we can meet the March 11 government funding deadline, wrote Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in a Dear Colleague letter released this morning. If Democrats and Republicans are unable to reach deal on COVID-19 supplemental funding, another continuing resolution may need to be passed.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requested Congress provide $22.5 billion to “initiate action on the National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan,” unveiled last week (WHG summary). “Additional funding will be needed” for the COVID-19 response, noted OMB Acting Director Shalanda Young. The $22.5 billion request includes $18.25 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and $4.25 for the Department of State and USAID.
More than half of the funding request is dedicated to ensuring “sufficient and timely supply” of medical countermeasures in the United States in the near-term, a major component of the President’s latest preparedness plan. OMB requests the following for the domestic response:
- $12.2 billion to procure and distribute medical countermeasures (i.e., vaccines, oral antiviral, and monoclonal antibodies;
- $2 billion to support testing and supplies, including the Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is slated to run out of funding this May;
- $1.5 billion to develop medical countermeasures to protect against future variants;
- $1.5 billion for (1) COVID-19 claims reimbursement for testing, treatment, and vaccine administration for the uninsured; and (2) the COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund, which covers vaccine administration for the underinsured; and
- $300 million for surveillance and laboratory capacity at CDC to detect emerging variants.
The House may vote as soon as Wednesday on the FY 2022 appropriations omnibus before adjourning for recess on Wednesday. House Democrats will hold their annual retreat this Wednesday through Friday. Senate Democrats will also convene for their caucus retreat this week, where they “will spend a great deal of time going over the numerous proposals that Democrats have to lower costs for working families,” wrote Majority Leader Schumer. Notably, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on lowering the cost of prescription drugs next week, said Schumer.
Regulatory Update
Of note, a proposed rule regarding the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)’s Radiation Oncology model has appeared at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. It is unclear what will be included in this proposed rule, though the Administration may use it to implement additional refinements to the model parameters.
The mandatory model to improve radiotherapy for cancer patients was originally proposed in 2019 and has since been delayed multiple times through legislative action. Stakeholders have repeatedly expressed concerns with the payment methodology of the model and warned that such changes could lead to reductions in access and quality of care. The most recent delay of the model – via the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from the Sequester Cuts (P.L. 117-71) – punted the demonstration’s start date to January 1, 2023.