Senate Appropriators Take Aim At Obamacare
The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a $153 billion bill that would block funding for the Affordable Care Act's Risk Corridor program and block discretionary funding for state-based insurance exchanges. Meanwhile, a House appropriator seeks to block new mammography guidelines.
The Hill:
Senate Panel Advances Spending Bill That Chips Away At ObamaCare
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced a nearly $153.2 billion bill that chips away at ObamaCare, just after the Supreme Court upheld a critical portion of the healthcare law. It marks the first time the full committee reported the measure in two years. The legislation would fund the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Education in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Those departments would receive $3.6 billion less than Congress enacted for this year and a whopping $14.5 billion less than President Obama’s request. (Shabad, 6/25)
CQ Healthbeat:
House Spending Bill Seeks to Block New Mammography Recommendations
The top Democratic House appropriator for federal health programs is seeking to stop a federal task force from issuing a new set of breast cancer screening recommendations that she says would make mammography more expensive and thus inaccessible for some women in their 40s.
Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut on Wednesday thanked House Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., for a new provision in his spending bill that's intended to block the planned new recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force for a year. The provision was added to the manager's amendment, which was adopted by voice vote, to the fiscal 2016 spending bill at a Wednesday markup. DeLauro said she is concerned that a new set of recommendations from the task force could lead insurers to require women in their 40s to pay part of the cost of mammograms. (Young, 6/25)
CQ Healthbeat:
Family Planning Emerges As Bipartisan Concern At Funding-Bill Markup
Two moderate GOP appropriators led an effort Thursday to block a fellow Republican’s plan to shave Title X family planning funds by about 10 percent, a marked contrast to their House counterparts who want to terminate the program. The amendment was among the most noteworthy proposals during a markup Thursday in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate committee voted 16-14 to report the fiscal 2106 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education bill, which would cut overall spending from the 2015 enacted level by almost $4 billion to $153 billion and is $14.5 billion below President Barack Obama's request. The House bill is nearly equal in its cut and would provide about the same amount. (Young, 6/25)
