Budget

Drug lobbyists and policy analysts say the Senate budget deal includes a Medicare Part D offset that the brand drug industry strongly opposes, but they say the details of the measures are unclear because they are written in a way that is difficult to decipher.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced a budget deal with Senate Democrats on Wednesday (Feb. 7) that includes $6 billion to fight the opioid and mental health crises, and raises non-defense discretionary spending.

Lawmakers are continuing talks Saturday following the government shutdown spurred by the Senate’s midnight rejection of a House continuing resolution that would have funded the government through Feb. 16, leaving the bill’s funding for CHIP and a delay of the ACA's industry taxes in flux.

Just hours before the House passed the GOP-crafted short-term continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown, Democrats, led by Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA), were pushing for a vote on separate legislation that would permanently reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, reauthorize funding for community health centers for two years, permanently repeal therapy caps for seniors in Medicare, and reauthorize the home visiting program for five years.

The House Rules Committee adjourned Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 17) without making any headway on a final version of the latest short-term continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown Friday, and which as drafted late Tuesday includes six years of Children's Health Insurance Program funding and a delay in the ACA's industry's taxes.

Congress on Thursday (Dec. 21) passed temporary government-spending legislation that funds until March 31 the Children’s Health Insurance Program, community health centers, National Health Service Corps, graduate medical education and the Special Diabetes Program, but funding for several other health care programs were left out of the bill.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2018 Labor-HHS funding bill on Thursday (Sept. 7), smoothing the way for the appropriations measure to move to the Senate floor.

A Senate Appropriations subcommittee approved a fiscal year 2018 HHS funding bill on Wednesday (Sept 6) that includes $79.4 billion in discretionary funding for the department -- a $1.7 billion increase from 2017, with large funding increases for the National Institutes of Health and opioid abuse treatment, but no new funding for implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously advanced a fiscal 2018 FDA funding bill out of committee Thursday (July 20) that adds $1 million in discretionary funding for FDA over the fiscal 2017 enacted level, totaling $2.8 billion, and adds $60 million in additional funding for the agency to implement the 21st Century Cures Act.