Budget

Lawmakers' handling of disaster-relief legislation will set the tone for how, or whether, they handle other urgent legislation, such as renewing funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program and community health centers, and President Donald Trump complicated that calculation on Wednesday when he sided with Democrats on combining disaster relief with a three-month deal on lifting the debt limit and funding the government.

As Senate Republicans pivot from health care overhaul bills to individual market stabilization for 2018, some industry taxes that would have been eliminated in the Senate GOP’s failed Better Care Reconciliation Act could be repealed or further delayed through upcoming must-pass bills on the Children's Health Insurance Program funding, government funding and debt ceiling increase, an industry source said Wednesday (Aug. 2).

The Senate Appropriations agriculture subcommittee advanced its fiscal 2018 FDA funding bill Tuesday (July 18), paving the way for full committee consideration Thursday (July 20).

The House Appropriations Committee released a National Institutes of Health spending plan that provides $35.2 billion for fiscal 2018, an increase of $1.1 billion over the fiscal 2017 enacted level.

The full House Appropriations Committee is set to mark up an FDA fiscal 2018 spending bill Wednesday morning. The draft bill keep FDA funding at current levels by appropriating $2.8 billion in discretionary funding as well as $60 million to implement the 21st Century Cures Act.

House appropriators are proposing to fund FDA at the same level in fiscal 2018 as the agency received this year, rejecting President Donald Trump's call to cut the agency's budget and ask industry to pay more in user fees.

A group of Senate Democrats and two Independents are urging their chamber's Appropriations HHS subcommittee to fund the State Health Insurance Assistance Program at the fiscal 2016 level after the most recent fiscal 2017 spending agreement cut $5 million from the program and President Donald Trump seeks to eliminate discretionary funding for the effort in fiscal 2018.

The Trump administration’s HHS budget request would cut $6.19 million from the office responsible for enforcing data privacy and security requirements.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma gave a presentation to Senate Republicans during their policy lunch Tuesday (May 23) and gave them an opportunity to ask her questions about Medicaid as they negotiate their version of the House-passed American Health Care Act.