{"id":2077,"date":"2021-09-20T18:17:20","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T18:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thornrun.com\/health-policy-report-9-20\/"},"modified":"2023-08-08T21:25:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T21:25:37","slug":"health-policy-report-9-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thornrun.com\/health-policy-report-9-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Policy Report (9\/20)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Capitol Hill Update<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House will convene for legislative business this week as lawmakers look to address a series of key policy issues, including keeping the government funded past the September 30 deadline.\u00a0Lawmakers are scheduled to consider a continuing resolution (CR) that is widely expected to fund the government into December, providing Congress with more time to iron out a broader funding agreement for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Also, on the House floor this week, Members will take up the chamber’s version of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), as well as a measure that seeks to create new federal protections on abortion rights. Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to primarily focus on confirming President Joe Biden’s pending judicial nominees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Democrats could choose\nto use the forthcoming CR as a legislative vehicle to raise the federal debt\nceiling \u2014 something that has been adamantly opposed by congressional\nRepublicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) emphasized last week\nthat Republicans will vote in unison to defeat any government funding\nbill that raises the debt ceiling, thus raising the possibility of a\ngovernment shutdown if both parties continue to engage in brinksmanship on this\nissue. In a recent letter<\/a> to congressional leadership, Treasury\nSecretary Janet Yellen urged Congress to act on the debt limit in the coming\nweeks, explaining that cash and “extraordinary measures” will be\nexhausted “during the month of October.” But as of now, a path\nforward remains uncertain given these political dynamics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead to the\nbalance of the month, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that\nlawmakers will take up the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure deal on September\n27. However, intel from Capitol Hill suggests that Democratic leadership could\nmove to consider the Biden-endorsed legislation under suspension of the rules,\nwhich requires a two-thirds majority vote to clear under this expedited\nprocedure. While the measure may have some GOP support, it is unlikely to\nhave enough to overcome some progressive Democrats\u2019 concerns about voting for\nit prior to taking up the reconciliation package. A failed suspension vote\nwould not be the end of the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure package, but it\ncould further delay action on the measure, and would put pressure on the need\nto extend the surface transportation programs that expire at the end of the\nmonth.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Energy and\nCommerce Marks Up Reconciliation Legislation <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the House\nEnergy and Commerce Committee convened a markup<\/a> of the Democrats\u2019 reconciliation text, the\nBuild Back Better Act. Throughout the duration of the markup, Republicans\nexpressed frustration that Democrats on the committee did not hold hearings on\nthe legislation to allow for GOP input. Democrats discussed the merits of the\nmyriad policies in each subtitle and voted against an extensive number of\nRepublican amendments. However, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) broke with his party\nand voted in support of several amendments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reps. Schrader and Scott\nPeters (D-CA) also introduced his Reduced Costs and Continued Cures Act (RCCCA)\n(text<\/a>; press release<\/a>; one-pager<\/a>) as an amendment in the nature of a substitute\n(ANS), but quickly withdrew this amendment as negotiations over drug pricing\nproposals continue behind-the-scenes. Despite withdrawing this proposal,\nthe two lawmakers, along with Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), voted against the drug\npricing subtitle. Notably, the centrist members\u2019 dissent from their party\nresulted in a 29-29 tie vote which withheld the provision from advancing. Aside\nfrom this, each section of the E&C reconciliation legislation was approved\nby the committee along party lines. The approved portions will now be reported\nto the House Budget Committee to be scored and compiled, along with the tax and\ndrug pricing provisions from the Ways and Means markup<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health titles discussed\nduring the markup include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n