Budget

The spending bill released by House lawmakers early Wednesday (Dec. 16) morning extends FDA's Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review program to Sept. 30, 2016.

A bill giving CMS the ability to grant a blanket hardship exemption from the so-called meaningful use of electronic health records program in 2015 didn't make it into the omnibus spending bill negotiated late Tuesday (Dec. 15), but the American Medical Association is still optimistic the bill could pass before Congress leaves for the year.

The omnibus spending agreement unveiled by House leaders early Wednesday (Dec. 16) includes a substantial funding bump for FDA’s implementation of the food safety law, with lawmakers urging FDA to use the extra resources to help state governments and private stakeholders in their efforts to implement the food law's new requirements.

Speaker Paul Ryan (WI) told attendees at a Politico Playbook Breakfast on Tuesday (Dec. 15) that Congress would be posting the final Omnibus and tax credit package later that day, but said another short-term Continuing Resolution would be required to allow the bill to go through the standard legislative procedure.

The hospital site-neutral tweak that some lawmakers reportedly are considering including in the omnibus appropriations bill would cost about $300 million, and House Republicans are the biggest obstacle to getting Congress to move forward on the proposal to exempt off-campus facilities under development from Medicare pay cuts, American Hospital Association officials told members Wednesday (Dec. 9) on a teleconference.

House Republicans are floating a two-year tax credit extension that does not include any of the hot- item health care riders that have been discussed, such as a delay or repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s Cadillac and medical device taxes and changes to hospital payments, according to a legislative text posted online on Monday (Dec. 7).

The U.S. Senate passed its budget reconciliation bill striking broad swaths of the Affordable Care Act in a 52-47 vote late Thursday (Dec. 3), moving the package to President Barack Obama and celebrating the symbolism of lawmakers’ success despite Obama’s looming veto. Passing repeal via reconciliation is a sign that, should a Republican win the White House in next November’s presidential election and the GOP retain a slim majority in the Senate, lawmakers could do away with the ACA once and for all through the same process.

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), one of several lawmakers in a bipartisan coalition working to eliminate the ACA's 40-percent excise tax on high-cost health plans, said Wednesday (Dec. 2) that a full repeal provision could very well be included in a tax extender package even without a way to offset the $87 billion price tag.

Coming off historically low spending growth in 2013, health care spending in 2014 increased 5.3 percent to $3 trillion, driven by Medicaid expansion, exchange coverage and rising drug spending, according to CMS.