On the afternoon of Saturday, September 30, 2023, Congress passed H.R. 5860, the Continuing Appropriations, 2024 and Other Extensions Act, averting a government shutdown and funding the federal government for forty-five days...more
Last week, President Biden presented an outline of a $1.75 trillion Build Back Better (BBB) social spending reconciliation framework resulting from months of negotiations with House and Senate Democrats. Congressional...more
11/3/2021
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Federal Poverty Line ,
FMAP ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Mental Health ,
Nursing Homes
On February 9, 2018, after passing the House and Senate, the President signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA). The BBA amends the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) to increase the spending caps on both defense...more
In the early hours of Saturday, December 2, 2017, the Senate approved its version of tax reform legislation, S. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by a vote of 51-49. All Republican Senators except Senator Bob Corker (R-TN)...more
Last week, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) announced they had reached an agreement on a short-term, bipartisan health insurance...more
Last week, Senate Republicans scrapped plans to vote on the ACA repeal and replace bill authored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA). Senate Republicans had planned to use the budget reconciliation...more
With the Fiscal Year 2017 budget reconciliation instructions expiring on Saturday, September 30, the Senate is making one last push to consider Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal-and-replace legislation drafted by Senators...more
While enthusiasm for pursing another vote on ACA repeal and replace in the Senate appears to have dimmed, hopes for repeal have not yet been extinguished. At the same time, a bipartisan group of Senators is working on a...more
Congress returns to Washington today, September 5, 2017, and faces a formidable to-do list for the month: Acting on the Administration’s $14.55 billion emergency funding request for disaster assistance for Hurricane Harvey,...more
Congress is on recess until September 5, and the outlook for Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal and replace legislation remains unclear. Moderate Democrats and Republicans want to work together to shore up the ACA insurance...more
Last week, the Senate debated and voted upon legislation (1) to repeal-and-replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA); (2) to repeal the ACA without a replacement; and (3) to repeal-and-replace the ACA in a more limited—or...more
Following a week in which Senate Republican healthcare reform plans shifted from Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal and replace, to repeal only, to uncertain, the Senate is expected to vote tomorrow, July 25, 2017, on a motion...more
On July 13, 2017, the Senate released its revised Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal and replace bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA), along with updated summaries (Titles I and II, and Title III) of the...more
The Senate returns today from its July Fourth recess and will be in session for the next three weeks. Over the recess, the number of senators stating that they could not support the current draft of the Better Care...more
On June 22, the Senate Budget Committee posted the discussion draft, available here, of its Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal and replace legislation, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA). Similar in structure to...more
Yesterday, by a vote of 217 to 213, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The House action...more
Last week, prior to departing Washington, D.C. for a two week congressional recess, House Republicans and the Trump Administration worked to come to an agreement on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), legislation to repeal...more
Following a week of amendments and last-minute deal making, and after postponing a scheduled March 23 vote, the House leadership cancelled a vote on H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), legislation to repeal and...more
On March 8, 2017, the two House Committees responsible for healthcare policy related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) held marathon-like deliberations to mark-up their respective portions of the Republicansponsored health...more
On Friday, February 24, 2017, Politico released details of a leaked draft House GOP “repeal and replace” bill (Draft) aimed at dismantling key provisions of the ACA, including Medicaid expansion, the individual mandate,...more
3/9/2017
/ Abortion ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Block Grants ,
Disproportionate Share Adjustments ,
Essential Health Benefits ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medicaid ,
Non-Grandfathered Health Plans ,
Repeal ,
Subsidies ,
Tax Credits
On February 16, 2017, House Republicans released a policy brief on how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The brief builds upon the ideas outlined in the 2016 “A Better Way” proposal and promises action on...more
Early in the morning of February 10, 2017, the U.S. Senate confirmed Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Senators voted along party lines, 52 to 47, to confirm Rep. Price, an orthopedic...more
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Dr. Tom Price (R-GA) to be Secretary of HHS. The Committee has scheduled a vote for today, January 30, on his nomination. ...more
Last week, Congress took the first step in a process to repeal and replace the ACA by passing S. Con. Res. 3, a Fiscal Year 2017 budget resolution, to instruct congressional health committees to write legislation, known as...more
This week, the Senate and the House are expected to approve an FY 2017 budget resolution instructing congressional committees to write legislation, known as budget reconciliation bills, to rescind many key components of the...more