During the 110th Congress, lawmakers hope to address prices and coverage in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, the scheduled expiration of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and several other health care issues. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D. Calif.) has vowed that within the first 100 hours the House is in session, the House will pass legislation that would allow the government to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies for the Medicare program. Lawmakers hope that some of the savings could be used to lessen the so-called "donut hole" - the coverage gap where beneficiaries must pay out-of-pocket for their medications. Senate leaders support the initiative, but are not limiting the chamber to the 100-hour goal.
The SCHIP program is set to expire on September 30, 2007. Lawmakers hope to enact legislation to reauthorize the program, which covers more than 4 million children. Incoming Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D. Mont.) has promised to start crafting legislation to address the issue. Some states might start experiencing funding shortfalls in June.
Congress will also need to address further scheduled physician reimbursement cuts, which were postponed in the waning hours of the 109th session, according to Kate Leone, senior health counsel to incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
In addition, both Democrats and Republicans hope to improve the low-income subsidy in the prescription drug benefit, said Leone during a recent Alliance for Health Reform briefing in Washington, D.C. "That's clearly the key part of the drug benefit," she said.
Leone said Senators are also expected to address: reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act; health information technology legislation; and increased oversight of federal Medicaid waivers.
Mark Hayes, health policy director for the Senate Finance Committee Republicans, said that next year, spending on government benefits is likely to reach 45 percent of general fund expenditures. The 2003 Medicare Modernization Act (PubLNo 108-173) established a trigger that requires restructuring of benefits, raising taxes, or increasing beneficiary cost sharing in order to make the program sustainable over the long term, he said.
Medicare Trustees project that the share of Medicare funding coming from general revenues will reach 45 percent in 2012. If the next report contains a similar estimate, it will trigger the requirement for the president to propose legislation to reduce the general-revenue share of funding for Medicare so it does not exceed 45 percent, according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis.
Source: CCH Washington Bureau, Jan. 3, 2007
For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH® Medicare and Medicaid Guide..
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