Month: June 2017

Today on the Hill: Congress Reaches July 4 Recess With Daunting Schedule Ahead

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Congress has left for the July 4 recess, and will return to Washington the week of July 10. Awaiting lawmakers is a daunting agenda of major policy initiatives and must-pass items, with a limited calendar in which to pass them. Of course, chief among those items is the stalled effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as Republican leaders in the Senate work feverishly to craft a package that will be able to pass the upper chamber before the August recess. President Trump again weighed in on the effort in a statement on Twitter this morning, saying that if the current package fails, Congress should “immediately REPEAL and then REPLACE at a later date!” While Republicans had originally considered that option in February when their health care initiative first started, it is unlikely that moderates will go along with a new plan to repeal that would strip coverage and place a great deal of uncertainty in insurance markets. It remains far more probable that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will return from the July 4 recess with a package that includes a number of the legislative tweaks and make a last-ditch effort to pass the existing legislation.

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Financial Services Report

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Looking Ahead

Near Term

  • All eyes will be on the Senate this week, as Leader McConnell attempts to thread the needle on Healthcare reform.   With only two votes to spare, there could be a lot of sausage to make before the end of the week.  
  • The House will take up two bills endorsed by the President.  The first, (H.R. 3003) — dubbed Kate’s Law in honor of a victim of a crime perpetrated by an illegal immigrant — would enhance the punishment for immigrants that try to re-enter the United States after being deported.  The other, (H.R. 3004) would prohibit Homeland Security and Justice Department grants from so-called sanctuary cities.  
  • The House Financial Services Committee will hold two subcommittee hearings, one on market structure and one on money laundering.  While the Senate Banking Committee will dip its toe into the start of its Housing Reform efforts.  
  • Labor Secretary Acosta will be before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee and is likely to be asked additional questions about timing of matters related to the fiduciary rule.

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This Week on the Hill: McConnell Aims for Health Care Vote This Week; CBO, Parliamentarian, Opposition Hurdles Remain

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This week has the potential to be the most important of the year in healthcare, as the Senate could vote as early as Thursday evening on their version of a bill to repeal and replace major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will likely bring the bill to the floor soon after the release of the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) score, which is expected early this week. Before any votes can be cast, the legislation will also need to undergo a review from the Senate parliamentarian to decide which provisions, if any, violate the chamber’s budget reconciliation rules. One of the key unknowns still remaining is whether a process for states to waive essential health benefits and other market reforms will survive the Senate parliamentarian’s analysis. The waiver process was added to the House’s version of the bill as an amendment from Rep. Tom Macarthur (R-NJ) and was essential to the American Health Care Act’s (AHCA) approval in the lower chamber.

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Health Policy Report

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The Week in Review

The Senate’s version of a health care overhaul was released with a great deal of fanfare last week as supporters and detractors quickly tried to establish their positions on the bill. Four conservative Republican senators — Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Mike Lee (R-UT) — announced that they are opposed to the bill in its current form; although they were sure to add the caveat that they are “open to negotiation and obtaining more information before it is brought to the floor.” Moderates have yet to commit to either supporting or opposing the bill, but several said they had concerns with the discussion draft, primarily related to its cuts to Medicaid. Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) was the first moderate Republican last week to say he would not vote for the bill in its current form. A full roundup of the health care debate is included below.

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TRP’s Shea McCarthy Comments on the Republican Study Committee’s Role in Healthcare Reform Talks for Inside Health Policy

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In an Inside Health Policy article published yesterday, Thorn Run Partner’s Senior Vice President Shea McCarthy offered his take on the role of conservatives in the House — namely the Republican Study Committee (RSC) and the House Freedom Caucus — in looming negotiations between the two chambers as lawmakers continue to digest the Senate’s healthcare reform bill. McCarthy noted that while it was expected that the Senate’s version was always expected to be more centrist than the House’s American Health Care Act (AHCA), key questions remain as to whether or not Senate conservatives — such as Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) — will support a more moderate package. “Cruz in particular still carries a lot of weight with the RSC and the Freedom Caucus,” said McCarthy in the interview prior to the Senators’ opposition of the current bill. “Assuming Cruz and Lee ultimately sign off on the Senate’s version, signaling that the bill goes ‘far enough,’ it’s hard to envision enough conservative House members casting votes to sink the package.”

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Financial Services Report

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Our Take

The horrific events of last week drew poignant remarks from leaders on both sides of the aisle, who along with others, not only condemned the violence but urged participants on all sides to tone down the vitriol of the current state of political discourse.   Unfortunately, like all too many parents know, when petulant siblings are seen screaming that it was “the other one’s fault” and “they started it,” it is often impossible to adequately resolve the issue in the eyes of either aggrieved child.   Perhaps, instead of contributing the “weighing and measuring” aspect of modern political analysis, Members of Congress and the Senate can become the profiles in courage that will lead the way to the political compromises that used to make this country great.  Or…

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This Week on the Hill: Republicans Plot Path Forward on Stalled Agenda

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As the summer churns along, Republican leaders are hoping to break the stalemate on their major priorities, namely health care legislation, tax reform, and the appropriations process for the 2018 fiscal year. All three appear to be deadlocked at the moment, with health care reform at the front of the queue. According to a report yesterday from Axios, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is hoping to force a vote on the Senate’s version of health care reform – which has yet to be publicly released – as early as next week. That move would require legislative text to be sent to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in order to be scored, meaning that negotiations would need to be finished this week. The remaining sticking points are well-known – Medicaid funding and the degree to which the bill will roll back restraints put on the insurance market by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – but a formal whip count remains elusive as senators await legislative text.

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Health Policy Report

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The Week in Review

The week in Washington was marred by tragedy after a gunman opened fire at a baseball practice for Republican Members of Congress ahead of the annual Congressional Baseball Game, injuring four, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA). Members of Congress were shaken by the event, particularly after it was apparent that the gunman was targeting lawmakers, and legislative schedules were altered as Congress grappled with their response to the attack. That response took the shape of a remarkable show of unity at the Congressional Baseball Game, and an emotional floor speech from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), speaking for lawmakers of all partisan stripes, saying, “For all the noise and all the fury, we are one family.” All of the victims of the shooting are expected to recover.

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Financial Services Report

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Our Take

Questions continue to swirl around how Congress will be able to address the ever-advancing deadline to raise the debt ceiling.  Will they pass a clean extension as Secretary Mnuchin as indicated is his preference?  Or, will Freedom Caucus members and OMB Director Mulvaney be able to successfully extract concessions in the negotiations to prevent the full faith and credit of the United States government from being questioned?   And, speaking of concessions, what will the Democrats ask for in exchange for their vote – revenue neutral tax reform, dropping efforts to repeal Obamacare, or something else?   With all of this uncertainty yet again surrounding the passage of legislation to extend the government’s borrowing authority, perhaps the time is ripe for a grand bargain on the issue.   Democrats, whose history under the Gephardt Rule shows they never wanted to make this a public issue, and who are tired of having to supply the votes and the campaign fodder for Republicans, have almost no incentive to bail out the GOP majority.  Republicans, in control of all three branches of Government for the first time during one of these crises, know that they can’t escape the blame for any repercussions to the Market for failing to raise the debt limit.  While few are publicly talking about it, the stars may be aligning so that this next extension is the final time Congress deals with this issue.  

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TRP’s Shea McCarthy Discusses Senate Plans for Community Rating Waivers for Inside Health Policy

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In an Inside Health Policy article published last week, Thorn Run Partners Senior Vice President Shea McCarthy noted that he has heard rumblings within the GOP that the Senate could get rid of the community rating waiver in the House's American Health Care Act. “Early reports indicate that the Senate plans to keep the House’s waivers allowing states to opt out of the ACA’s essential health benefits and age-rating band requirements, but that they plan to eliminate the waiver that would allow states to skirt the ACA’s requirement that insurers must offer coverage to people with pre-existing conditions," noted McCarthy. "The waiver from the pre-existing condition protection — the so-called “community rating” policy — has been subject to deep criticism from those who fear costs could skyrocket for many patients in states that seek the waivers. Conservatives would prefer to keep the waiver, and this issue hasn’t necessarily been settled.”  McCarthy also mentioned that a tax credit could be available for those making less than 250 percent of the poverty level, and that additional funding may bue dedicatyed for people aged 50-64. 

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