Archive for the ‘Budget’ Category
BACK AND FORTH: Child Advocacy Groups Attack Youth Program Cuts in GOP Budget Bill
A budget package from House Republicans designed to shift cuts from military to domestic programs has drawn major criticism from child advocacy groups. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that proposed cuts to CHIP in the legislation could cost 300,000 children their health insurance coverage.
What Republicans say: Republicans have argued that reducing government spending is critical to averting fiscal disaster. House Budget Committee Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) justified the cuts by saying “the program is not working” because “last year Medicaid made $22 billion in improper payments.” Republicans say the cuts will allow state governments to develop more efficient ways to provide health care coverage for low-income U.S. residents.
What child advocacy groups say: Bruce Lesley, the president of the children’s advocacy group First Focus, condemned the budget proposal saying, “When one in five U.S. kids live in poverty, it is not the time to slash investments in their healthcare, nutrition, economic stability, childcare and safety.” The group said the budget would reduce funding for children’s programs that provide health care and nutrition assistance by “tens of billions of dollars.”
Our Take: It is unlikely that the GOP budget proposal will pass the Democrat controlled Senate, suggesting that Republican’s are using this as a campaign issue to gain support from voters who want to avoid big cuts to the Pentagon budget.
By Heather Drost, staff writer
AHL’s TOP STORY: House Passes Budget Reconciliation Bill With Medicare, Medicaid Cuts
The House yesterday passed a budget reconciliation bill (HR 5652) that would override automatic cuts scheduled to take effect next year and instead cut entitlement spending, the Washington Times reports.
The bill passed 218-199 on a mostly party-line vote, with 16 Republicans and all 183 Democrats voting against it. The measure is not likely to advance in the Democrat-controlled Senate (Dinan, Washington Times, 5/10). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) already has said he will not bring the measure up for debate (Newhauser, Roll Call, 5/10). The White House also has said President Obama likely would veto the bill if it reached his desk.
The automatic cuts are a result of the debt panel’s failure to reach a compromise last summer. Many lawmakers want to repeal the automatic cuts, known as sequestration, out of concern for defense programs, while others have taken issue with the cuts’ effect on Medicare.
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AHL’s TOP STORY: Republicans Back Off From Proposed Medicare, Medicaid Budget Changes
House Republicans are opting for less controversial spending cuts, such as cutting federal health reform law funding, over pursuing broad changes to Medicaid and Medicare included in House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) House-passed fiscal year 2013 budget proposal, the AP/Washington Times reports (Taylor, AP/Washington Times, 4/24).
Ryan’s budget plan — which the House passed in March and approved again in a procedural move earlier this month — would transform Medicare from a fee-for-service program to one in which beneficiaries could either purchase coverage on the private market or maintain traditional Medicare coverage. The proposal also would reduce Medicaid spending and convert the program to a block-grant system, in which states would receive a fixed amount (American Health Line, 4/18).
AHL’s TOP STORY: Conrad Does Not Introduce Democratic Budget Plan, Instead Will Offer Version of Simpson-Bowles
Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) yesterday announced that instead of introducing a Democratic budget plan in his committee this week, he will introduce a version of a bipartisan budget plan developed in 2010 by former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and former Democratic White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, the Washington Post‘s “2chambers” reports (Helderman, “2chambers,” Washington Post, 4/17). Conrad also said he will not ask senators to vote on the proposal, noting that he instead wants to spend more time developing bipartisan consensus on the plan (Friedman, National Journal, 4/17).
AHL’s TOP STORY: Congress Returns Today To Address Several Expiring Health Care Policies
Congressional lawmakers today return from the Easter recess to a slew of hearings intended to address several expiring health care policies, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports.
Tomorrow, the House Judiciary Committee will mark up medical malpractice legislation that would limit non-economic damages at $250,000. The House last month passed a similar bill (HR 5), which included language to repeal the federal health reform law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board. The bill being debated Tuesday does not include the IPAB language, but it would allow the committee to find $39 billion in savings to meet requirements included in House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) House-approved fiscal year 2013 budget resolution.
AHL’s TOP STORY: House Approves Ryan’s FY 2013 Budget Plan
The House yesterday voted 228-191 to approve House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) fiscal year 2013 budget proposal, which would repeal the federal health reform law and alter Medicaid and Medicare, the Wall Street Journal reports. All Democrats and 10 Republicans voted against Ryan’s budget.
WHAT WE’RE READING: Ryan’s Budget Preview Heavy on Theatrics, Light on Specifics
- “Paul Ryan’s Dramatic Budget Preview,” Washington Post‘s “2chambers”: Drumroll, please.
- “Getting Doctors to Think About Costs,” New York Times‘ “Well”: How much does a CAT scan cost? A lot.
AHL’s TOP STORY: Obama Releases Budget Proposal; Includes At Least $360 Billion in Health Care Savings
President Obama on Monday released a budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 that aims to reduce the federal deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade, the New York Times reports (Calmes, New York Times, 2/12). Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’S TOP STORY: Both Parties Back Medicare ‘Premium Support’; Could Lead to Future Program Changes
During debt panel discussions, members of both parties stood behind “premium support” within Medicare, which could lead to major structural changes to the program, according to lawmakers and health policy experts, the New York Times reports. Some experts say that even though the panel last week failed to reach a deficit-reduction deal, the group’s work could frame the Medicare debate during next year’s elections and beyond.
[Ed. Note: Click here for background on the debt panel and its savings goals].
Republicans traditionally have supported premium support, which would give Medicare beneficiaries a fixed amount of money to purchase coverage from competing private plans. GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in the last two weeks have endorsed variations of premium support in Medicare.
Meanwhile, some Democrats on the debt panel said that a premium support plan could work if it included enough protections for Medicare beneficiaries (Pear, New York Times, 11/24)
AHL’s Top Story: GOP Appropriations Subcommittee Plan Would Block Health Reform Funding Until Legal Challenges Are Settled
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies yesterday released a $153.4 billion draft budget for fiscal year 2012 that prohibits funding for the federal health reform law until all legal challenges are settled, the Washington Times reports (Wolfgang, Washington Times, 9/29). The budget would prohibit HHS from continuing implementation of the law until 90 days after the date when all legal challenges have concluded (Ethridge, CQ Today, 9/29). The draft bill ultimately would rescind $8.6 billion in appropriations authorized under the reform law (Rogers, Politico, 9/29). According to The Hill‘s “Healthwatch,” the bill likely will not go to markup in its current form because its spending levels are higher than those endorsed by two Republicans on the committee (Baker, “Healthwatch,” The Hill, 9/29).
