White House, Congress Reach Budget Deal With Health Care Changes

On Monday, the Obama administration and congressional leaders reached an $80 billion, two-year budget agreement that includes major health care provisions, the Associated Press reports (Taylor,Associated Press, 10/27).

Budget Deal Details

The bipartisan budget deal would increase current spending limits for domestic agencies by $50 billion during the first year and $30 billion during the second year. An extra $32 billion in spending would come from an overseas contingency account, bringing the total budget agreement to $112 billion (Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau/Sacramento Bee, 10/27).

The agreement, which would apply to fiscal years 2016 and 2017, also would suspend the country’s $18.1 trillion debt limit through March 2017. According to the Chicago Tribune/Los Angeles Times, the U.S. could risk its first-ever debt default if the federal borrowing limit is not raised by Nov. 3.

Further, the deal also would avert the possibility of a government shutdown until sometime in 2017 (Chicago Tribune/Los Angeles Times, 10/26). The House and Senate Appropriations committees need to produce an omnibus spending bill by Dec. 11 in order to avoid a government shutdown (Associated Press, 10/27).

Health Care Provisions

According to the Washington Post, the budget deal would prevent a premium increase for Medicare beneficiaries from taking effect (Snell, Washington Post, 10/27).

In July, Medicare actuaries predicted that monthly premiums would increase to about $159 for such beneficiaries, up from about $105. In addition, the actuaries predicted that deductibles for Medicare plans on average would increase to about $223 in 2016, up from $147 this year.

The projected premium increases could affect roughly 30% of the 51 million U.S. residents enrolled in Medicare Part B (California Healthline, 10/15).

The deal also would eliminate an Affordable Care Act mandate that requires large companies to automatically enroll employees in health plans unless the workers opt out of the coverage (Tribune Washington Bureau/Sacramento Bee, 10/27).

Spending Offsets Would Affect Medicare

According to the Post, the budget deal’s spending increases would be offset by changes to:

  • Medicare payments to physicians and other providers; and
  • The Social Security disability insurance fund (Washington Post, 10/27).

The deal would:

  • Cut certain Medicare payments for outpatient services provided by hospitals (Chicago Tribune/Los Angeles Times, 10/26); and
  • Extend a two-percentage-point reduction in Medicare payments to physicians and hospitals through the end of a 10-year budget, which will fund an estimated $25.8 billion of the budget deal (Muchmore, Modern Healthcare, 10/27).

Next Steps

The House could consider the deal as early as Wednesday (Associated Press, 10/27). According to the TWB/Bee, the agreement will likely face opposition from both Republicans and Democrats (Tribune Washington Bureau/Sacramento Bee, 10/27).

Reaction

Some stakeholders applauded the deal. For example, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) called the deal “a good start,” adding, “The outline that was presented seems like a path forward” (Chicago Tribune/Los Angeles Times, 10/26).

However, others have expressed concerns about the deal.

Jim Dean, chair of Democracy for America, said, “The White House needs to know that any budget deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits, or eligibility for those benefits, is unacceptable to the American people and roughly equivalent to declaring a holy war on struggling working families” (Tribune Washington Bureau/Sacramento Bee, 10/27).

Meanwhile, Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) said conservative lawmakers are “skeptical” of the deal “at this point” (Washington Post, 10/27).

Source Link

Recommended Articles

White House Leaves One Trump-Era Policy Alone

The Biden administration has gutted many of former President Donald Trump’s health care policies, but there’s one that the White House has yet to touch, Kelly reports. It’s a 2019 rule that expanded individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements, or ICHRAs, which allowed employers to provide tax-exempt subsidies to help workers purchase Obamacare plans. The Biden administration’s ...

Read More

Court Strikes Down HHS Rule that Allowed Insurers to Not Count Copay Assistance

In a major victory for patients who depend on prescription drugs, Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down a Trump administration federal rule that allowed health insurers to not count drug manufacturer copay assistance towards a beneficiary’s out-of-pocket costs. The case was brought against the U.S. Department of Health and ...

Read More

Lawmakers, Payers And Providers All Air Grievances With Federal No Surprises Act Implementation

Amid a flurry of partisan roadblocks rolling out across Capitol Hill, representatives on both sides of the aisle came together Tuesday to critique federal agencies’ rollout of the No Surprises Act and throw their support behind court-ordered rewrites of independent dispute resolution (IDR) regulations. During a hearing exploring the “flawed implementation” of the law intended ...

Read More

As Biden Plans To Ban Medical Debt From Credit Scores, Advocates Press For More Change

The dramatic impact of medical debt on credit scores may soon be a thing of the past. On Thursday, the White House announced a plan outlined by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to eliminate medical debt from credit reports. The move — which follows an earlier decision from the three main credit bureaus to eliminate paid medical debt, medical ...

Read More
arrowcaret-downclosefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepauseplaytwitter-squareyoutube-square