CQ’s Carey Discusses Physician Medicare Bill, Mental Health Parity Legislation, VA Health Care Measures

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses Senate passage of a bill that would halt a Medicare physician payment cut, a Senate-House agreement on mental health parity legislation and House action on changes to veterans' health care services in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

According to Carey, the Senate voted 69-30 to approve by a veto-proof majority a bill that would block a 10.6% Medicare physician payment cut. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who made his first appearance in the chamber since undergoing brain surgery last month, voted for the bill, which gave Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) the 60 votes needed for cloture. Once that threshold was reached, several Republicans reversed their "no" votes. President Bush is expected to veto the bill, but if all 69 senators vote to override the veto, it will become law. The House also is expected to override the veto. The legislation also would delay for 18 months a competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, prohibit or limit certain sales and marketing practices of Medicare Advantage and other drug plans, and provide easier ways for beneficiaries to qualify for and enroll in the Medicare prescription drug benefit's low-income subsidy program. The bill's financing provisions would phase out indirect medical education payments to MA plans and restrict some private fee-for-service plans by requiring the formation of provider networks.

Carey also discusses an agreement between House and Senate negotiators on mental health parity legislation that calls for studies to determine whether insurers are discriminating against certain conditions or failing to cover some treatments. The House version of the measure would require private health insurers to cover a specific list of conditions, which the White House, insurance companies and business groups say is too broad. In addition, the Senate has raised concerns about provisions of the House bill that would restrict so-called specialty hospitals and change how Medicaid reimburses for prescription drugs. However, Democratic leaders from both chambers have said that passing mental health parity legislation remains a priority for this year.

In addition, Carey discusses House bills dealing with veterans' health care. One bill would set up a three-year pilot program allowing veterans who live in remote areas access to health services through outside providers. The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs also approved legislation that would extend mental health benefits to veterans' family members who receive nonservice-related treatment. Another measure would prohibit certain copayments from catastrophically disabled veterans' treatment. Mark up on these bills is expected on July 16.

Carey also says that the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee approved a bill that would allow full-time students older than age 18 who become severely ill to maintain their parents' health insurance if they take a leave of absence from school. The bill would require outside health plans to sustain coverage for up to one year. Another measure approved by the subcommittee aims to give FDA the tools necessary to review applications for brand-name and generic animal drugs. In addition, the Senate is expected to resume debate on legislation that would reauthorize the $50 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program, after leaders agreed to consider 10 Republican amendments. The largest of these amendments -- submitted by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) -- aims to trim $15 billion from the legislation. Other amendments would remove a provision that would repeal a ban on HIV-positive visitors to the U.S., while another would redirect money to improve American Indian drinking water and law enforcement (Carey, "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ," 7/14).

The complete audio version of "Health on the Hill," transcript and resources for further research are available online at kaisernetwork.org.