Summary
This week, the House continues to mark up their legislative recommendations for the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package. Recommendations are due this Wednesday, September 15, but that date is non-binding. House and Senate Democrats intend to pre-conference their bill before floor votes to help move the process along. However, the timing of the votes remains unclear given a slew of issues – e.g., Sen. Joe Manchin’s current opposition to the size of the package and the looming September 30 deadline to fund the government for fiscal year (FY) 2022.
Today, the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee will mark up its legislative recommendations for the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package. The FY 2022 budget resolution (S.Con.Res. 14) directs E&C to increase the deficit by not more than $486 billion over FYs 2022 through 2031. Health care-related priorities in the recommendations include:
- H.R. 3 prescription drug reforms, including drug price negotiations, Part D redesign and an annual out-of-pocket cap, inflation rebates, and repealing the Trump Administration rebate rule;
- Adding dental, vision, and hearing coverage to Medicare;
- Closing the Medicaid coverage gap (starting with Marketplace premium tax credits (PTCs) and cost-sharing reduction assistance for eligible individuals through FY 2024, followed by a federal Medicaid program beginning FY 2025) and making the Children Health Insurance Program (CHIP) permanent;
- Creating an Affordable Care Act (ACA) reinsurance program to reduce healthcare premiums;
- Expanding access to home and community-based services (HCBS); and
- Investing in the public health infrastructure and workforce, as well as public health preparedness.
Tomorrow, the House Ways and Means (W&M) Committee will continue its markup of its legislative recommendations. They include prescription drug pricing reforms that mirror E&C’s recommendations as well as provisions to make permanent the recent changes to Marketplace PTCs by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2). Last week, W&M approved its first set of legislative recommendation, which include:
- Expanding Medicare coverage to include dental benefits (available January 1, 2028); vision benefits (available October 1, 2022); and hearing benefits (available October 1, 2023);
- Improving the quality of care delivered by skilled nursing facilities by increased funding to address staffing shortages, enhance the accuracy and reliability of quality data, prevent elder abuse; and
- Bolstering the health care workforce through the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) program.