House Passes Bill To Ease Debt Ceiling Crisis And Avert Medicare Cuts

Bloomberg: House Passes Bill Opening Way To Quick Debt Ceiling Increase
The House passed legislation Tuesday that would create a quick process to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by a simple majority vote in the Senate, approving a procedural measure on a 222 to 212 vote.  Under the terms of the bill, Democrats would receive one-time fast track authority to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, likely by an amount sufficient to cover borrowing through 2022. The vote lessens the risk of a U.S. payment default this month. The bill would also cancel automatic cuts to Medicare, farm subsidies and other programs triggered by deficit spending earlier this year. (Wasson and House, 12/8)

New York Times: House Passes Legislation To Pave Way For Debt Ceiling Increase
Its passage was not guaranteed in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans have for weeks refused to let Democrats take up any bill to provide a long-term increase. But Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, signaled confidence that enough of his colleagues could accept the solution. (Cochrane and Sanger-Katz, 12/7)

Modern Healthcare: House Votes To Avert Looming Medicare Cuts
The bill falls short of what providers advocated but hospitals are relieved that Congress is taking steps to block tens of millions of dollars in reimbursement reductions slated to take effect next year, American Hospital Association President and CEO Rick Pollack said. "The AHA is pleased that the House has recognized that now is not the time to make cuts to hospitals and physicians under the Medicare program," Pollack said in a news release. "Providers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 will not face additional imminent financial jeopardy as they continue to care for patients and communities." (Hellmann, 12/7)

Politico: House Passes Workaround To Move Forward On Raising The Debt Ceiling
Under the bill the House passed Tuesday night, Congress will be averting a 2 percent reduction in Medicare payments that Congress paused last year, and a 4 percent reduction that would be triggered by the budget reconciliation process Democrats used to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package earlier this year. That process would also necessitate cuts to farm aid programs, which the fix would avoid. (Ferris, Scholtes and Emma, 12/7)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: Sen. Joe Manchin Holds Back Support For Social-Spending Bill 
Sen. Joe Manchin declined to commit to voting for Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion social-policy and climate package, citing concerns about inflation and the length of programs, weeks before the Christmas deadline party leaders are racing to meet. Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, made the remarks during The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit at a pivotal moment for Democrats in Washington—and one where he has been a key figure. Because Senate Democrats are using a special budget maneuver to pass their education, healthcare and climate package without any GOP support, they can’t lose a single senator from their own party. (Collins, 12/7)

KHN: Oncology Doctors Say The Build Back Better Act Will Slash Cancer Care Funding — A Skewed Argument
An advertisement from the Community Oncology Alliance, part of a $1.6 million campaign running both on radio airwaves and in print, attacks a proposal in the Democratic-backed Build Back Better package approved by the House last month and now headed to the Senate. The ads, which started on Nov. 29 and are set to run through Dec. 12, say parts of the legislation would have “serious unintended consequences” for cancer patients — specifically, that “an independent analysis shows that payments for cancer care will be slashed by close to 45%, causing cancer clinics to close and massively raising your healthcare costs.” The alliance is an advocacy and lobbying organization representing physicians and clinics involved with cancer care. (Appleby, 12/8)

Axios: A Surprising Opponent Of Democrats’ Drug Pricing Plan: Generics 
The generic drug industry is warning that Democrats' drug pricing legislation would undercut their ability to compete against brand-name drugs, and some experts say they have a point. Generic drugs and biosimilars are America's most effective way of exerting downward pressure on drug prices, and keeping this competition healthy would remain vital even under the Democrats' new system. (Owens, 12/8)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

The New York Times: Lawmakers Reach Deal To Overhaul How Military Handles Sexual Assault Cases
House and Senate negotiators reached a landmark agreement on Tuesday that would strip military commanders of most of their authority to prosecute sexual assaults and myriad other criminal cases, a move that Pentagon leaders, lawmakers and presidents have resisted for nearly a generation. The legislation, part of a broad defense policy bill, comes after nearly two decades of efforts by female lawmakers and survivors’ groups, and in spite of fierce last-minute lobbying against the proposal by military lawyers. (Steinhauer, 12/7)

Casper Star Tribune: Cheney, Expert Say Hageman Mischaracterizing Vaccine Bill
Rep. Liz Cheney voted last week in favor of the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021, joining Democrats and 80 House Republicans. Harriet Hageman, the Donald Trump-backed candidate who is challenging Cheney, quickly pounced, putting out a press release claiming Wyoming’s congresswoman had voted to allow a federal database to track COVID-19 vaccination status. (Eavis, 12/7)

Roll Call: Partisan Bickering Could Doom Efforts To Regulate Social Media Companies
Industry representatives are accusing Republicans and Democrats of attempting to intimidate social media companies ahead of next year’s midterm elections. That comes as a brief period of bipartisan momentum behind legislative efforts to regulate companies like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter appears to have passed, with Republicans and Democrats reverting to partisan differences and bickering. After the disclosure this fall of tens of thousands of internal documents by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, including those that showed the company knew its products were harming the mental and physical health of teenage users, lawmakers from both parties said the time had come for federal regulation. (DeChiaro, 12/7)