Health Spending

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On January 25, 2011, the House of Representatives voted 256-165 to approve H.Res. 38, which directs Congress to cut FY 2011 non-security discretionary spending to no more than fiscal year 2008 levels. While H.Res. 38 does not specify planned spending cuts, the Republican Study Committee has offered a plan for achieving such reductions, including cutting…

The new 112th Congress has already held a number of hearings on health policy issues and other policy areas that also can impact the health industry. For instance, with regard to health reform, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the “Health Care Law’s Impact on Jobs, Employers, and the Economy.” …

On May 6, 2010, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing on health care pricing transparency legislation, focusing on H.R. 4700, the "Transparency In All Health Care Pricing Act of 2010"; H.R. 2249, the "Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act Of 2009"; and H.R. 4803, the "Patient’s Right To Know…

Today the Obama Administration released an 11-page summary of its health reform proposal in preparation for a bipartisan health reform summit scheduled for February 25, 2010. Among other things, the proposal includes a relatively-detailed discussion how the Administration would promote access to affordable insurance, address health care fraud and abuse proposals, and bridge the differences between the House and Senate reform proposals in other key areas.
Continue Reading Obama Administration Releases Health Reform Plan in Preparation for Bipartisan Summit

The Obama Administration has released its proposed federal budget for fiscal year (FY) 2011. In its budget documents, the Administration reaffirms its commitment to enacting health reform legislation, and it assumes $150 billion in federal savings attributable to health reform over the 2011-2020 period. The document states that the budget “supports health insurance reform” by…

On February 4, 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its health spending projections for 2009, estimating that growth in U.S. national health expenditures (NHE) increased 5.7%, compared to 4.4% in 2008. This 2009 growth rate exceeded the growth in the gross domestic product (-1.1%) and brought total national health spending to…

On February 1, 2010, President Obama is scheduled to deliver his proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2011, which is likely to again include provisions that would, if adopted, significantly impact federal health care policies. Congressional panels already have scheduled hearings on the upcoming proposal, including Senate Finance Committee and House and Senate Budget Committee…

The CMS Office of the Actuary (OACT) has issued its analysis of the Senate Democratic leadership’s health reform plan, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), as introduced on November 18.  OACT estimates that the Senate proposal would increase total national health expenditures by $234 billion (0.7 percent) during calendar year 2010-2019.  …

On November 14, 2009, House Republicans released an analysis by CMS’s Office of the Actuary (OACT) that raises questions about the House-approved health reform plan’s potential to control health care spending. The report, which was requested by Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp, found that under H.R. 3962, “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of…

A number of Congressional committees have held hearings recently on health policy issues, including a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing examining increasing health costs facing small businesses and a House Appropriations Committee “briefing” on the “2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Examining the Federal, State, and Local Public Health Response.” In addition, on November 18,…

On July 3, 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) made public a new assessment of title I of the Affordable Health Choices Act, the Senate HELP Committee health reform bill, focusing on newly-released health insurance coverage provisions (insurance market reforms, insurance exchange, public plan option, and insurance mandates).  The CBO estimates that the bill would…

Today the Chairmen of the three House committees that share jurisdiction over health policy released their draft 852-page health reform bill. As expected, the legislation would create a public health insurance plan to compete with private insurers, and it would make extensive Medicare and Medicaid policy changes affecting virtually every type of health care entity.
Continue Reading House Leaders Unveil Draft Health Reform Bill

On June 16, 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) outlined the potential impact of health reform on the federal budget.  In a letter to the Senate Budget Committee, the CBO warns that "without meaningful reforms, the substantial costs of many current proposals to expand federal subsidies for health insurance would be much more likely to worsen the long-run…

On June 15, 2009, the Congressional Budget Office posted its preliminary analysis of the major provisions related to health insurance coverage in the "Affordable Health Choices Act," which was released by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) on June 9, 2009.  Among other things, that draft legislation would establish insurance exchanges through which individuals and…