The House and Senate were out last week for the Presidents Day recess. In Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation news, the Obama Administration moved up next year’s healthcare enrollment period by three weeks, designating Jan. 31 as the last day to sign up. HHS officials said 2016 enrollment would begin Nov. 1, instead of Nov. 15, and would last three months. The White House announced the enrollment deadline extension last Friday after Senate Democrats called for the move earlier in the week. In an embarrassing setback, HHS officials also said that the Administration had sent 800,000 people incorrect information in January about the subsidies they received in 2014, which would affect their tax refunds. The agency will send out corrected forms in March. Continue reading “TRP Health Policy Report”
Month: February 2015
TRP Financial Services Report
Looking Ahead
Near Term
- The House and Senate are in recess this week. When they return the Senate has teed up the 4th cloture vote on H.R. 240, the Homeland Security funding bill. Unless Congress does something, funding for DHS will run out on Feb 27th.
TRP Health Policy Report
Last week saw more political jockeying over a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill (H.R. 240), but little progress in advancing the measure. Republicans had hoped to use the bill to reverse President Obama’s immigration policies, but their effort has been blocked by Senate Democrats. The impasse could jeopardize funding for the DHS, which expires on February 27. Before adjourning, the Senate struck a rare note of bipartisanship in voting 93-5 to approve Ash Carter’s nomination to serve as Secretary of Defense. In the House, members voted 272-142 last Friday to renew (H.R. 636) tax credits for small businesses. Last Thursday, the House advanced a separate tax extenders package (H.R. 644) regarding credits for charitable giving, which passed 279-137. In other legislative activity, the House voted Wednesday to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline (S. 1), setting up a veto confrontation with President Obama. The legislation, which passed in the Senate in late January, was approved by a vote of 270-152.
TRP Health Policy Report
Last Monday, President Obama sent his fiscal 2016 budget request to Congress, and Cabinet officials spent the week explaining the details to House and Senate committees. HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell appeared before the Senate Finance Committee last Wednesday to take questions about the Administration’s funding proposal and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In legislative activity, Senate Democrats blocked action on a bill (H.R. 240) to fund the Department of Homeland Security to protest Republican language on immigration. The 52-47 vote last Thursday, with 60 required to advance the bill, repeated similar votes held Tuesday and Wednesday. Passed last month by the House, the measure funds the agency through the remainder of the budget year while rolling back President Obama's executive actions to shield some immigrants from deportation. Separately, the Senate voted 99-0 for a bill (H.R. 203) to provide additional mental health and suicide prevention services for veterans. The bill now moves to the White House for the President's signature.
TRP Clean Energy Report
Last week, President Obama sent his fiscal 2016 budget request to Congress, and Cabinet officials spent the week explaining the details to relevant House and Senate committees. The Administration’s nearly $4 trillion budget called for a spending increase for both domestic programs and the military, including $74 billion in additional discretionary spending – about 7 percent above the level set under sequestration. The budget proposed to offset the new spending with a mix of taxes increases over a decade, mostly on top earners, to fund tax breaks for middle-class families, child care and education.
TRP Financial Services Report
Last week we once again witnessed an annual rite of passage in Washington. The President also released his budget, and although the recent budget battles have been more akin to the film classic Groundhog Day than your classic legislative process, last week’s release of the budget on Groundhog Day offered some constructive steps towards a roadmap forward. As discussed in more detail below, the President’s budget was a strong liberal statement and in some ways was seen by observers as more of a check on Hillary Clinton than Congressional Republicans, however it also offered just enough morsels to give Republicans a few areas for agreement. While this budget as a whole is clearly DOA in Congress, there are clearly certain areas, including tax reform, where both sides can find mutual areas for agreement.
TRP Financial Services Report
Looking Ahead
- The White House is expected to release its budget today. According to reports, the President’s 2016 budget proposal will have $74 billion, or about 7% more, above the levels permitted by sequestration. The SEC is one of the agencies prioritized under the budget, with the Obama Administration asking Congress to fund the SEC at $1.7 billion for 2016, an increase of $200 million.
- Since it is Budget Week many of the House and Senate Committees will be meeting this week to hear from various Administration officials who are trekking up the to the Hill to defend their agencies priorities.
TRP Health Policy Report
Last Thursday, the Senate voted 62-36 to build the Keystone XL pipeline, delivering Republicans the first legislative victory of their new majority. Nine Democrats joined with Republicans in voting to approve the $8 billion project, five votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a promised veto from President Obama. The Senate and House, which passed a Keystone bill earlier this month, must now reconcile differences between their respective measures before final legislation can be sent to the White House. Aides said House Republicans have not decided whether to pass the Senate bill as-is or seek a conference committee, where a final version would be negotiated between the chambers. The House adjourned last Wednesday to accommodate the Democratic retreat in Philadelphia. Before departing, members voted 277-133 to expedite liquefied natural gas exports (H.R. 351) and approved a package of 12 bills to combat human trafficking. In notable healthcare implementation news, the CBO said expanded health coverage under the ACA will cost about $571 billion from 2015 to 2019, down from the $710 billion the budget office predicted in 2010. CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said the lower cost projections are the result of many factors, including the overall “slowdown in the growth of health care costs” and estimated lower premiums that will be subsidized by the federal government.