Minibus arrives
Early on January 20, 2026, the House Appropriations Committee released the 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes the last of the 12 fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations bills: Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense, Homeland Security, and Transportation-Housing-Urban Development.
The government funding “minibus” includes $116.6 billion in discretionary funding for HHS (notably higher than the $95 billion proposed by President Trump) and is being hailed as a bipartisan and bicameral healthcare package. The package is largely consistent with the December 2024 health package that was ultimately pulled from the 2024 year-end spending bill. The FY 2026 minibus includes extensions, ranging from one year to five years, of key healthcare extenders, including the Medicare-dependent hospital program (one year), Medicare telehealth flexibilities (two years), and the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program (five years).
The minibus does not include an extension of the enhanced advanced premium tax credits or measures to bolster health savings accounts, despite ongoing partisan discussions regarding these policies as potential tools to mitigate rising healthcare costs.
With the January 30, 2025, government funding deadline now just 10 days away, lawmakers are racing to complete action on the remaining FY 2026 appropriations bills and related extenders before current funding expires. The House is expected to take up the minibus package later this week, prior to its scheduled recess, in an effort to send the measure to the Senate as quickly as possible. The Senate, which is out on a planned recess this week, will return next week to consider two appropriations minibuses, assuming this newly released minibus passes the House.
Outside of appropriations, the House has a packed schedule of healthcare-related hearings this week. Attention to fraud and abuse in federal programs continues as the House Judiciary Committee convenes a Wednesday hearing on misuse of taxpayer dollars in federally funded programs. Healthcare affordability will take center stage in this week’s hearings, with the House Committee on the Budget holding a hearing on rising healthcare costs and their impact on the country’s fiscal health, and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee and House Committee on Ways and Means holding hearings featuring health insurance CEOs to discuss rising healthcare costs and the role played by health insurance companies.
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