Legislative Week in Review

There are a lot of bad ideas floating around Congress that could harm children and families who rely upon Medicaid or CHIP to meet their health care needs.  Here are the highlights of what happened on the hill this week on various proposals that would undermine the stability of Medicaid and CHIP coverage.

Senate Finance Committee Holds Hearing on Global Cap Proposal

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing this week on a proposal by Senators Corker and McCaskill to impose an arbitrary limit on federal spending through a global spending cap.  CBPP's Senior Fellow Paul Van de Water testified that such a cap would have a destabilizing force on the economy.  It would "risk tipping faltering economies into recession, make recessions deeper, and make recovery from a recession more difficult."   A rigid cap would also undermine our government's ability to respond to changing needs including rising health care costs and an aging population with increasing health needs.  A global spending cap would force deep cuts in Mediciad and other vital programs.

Legislation to Repeal Medicaid/CHIP Stability Protections Introduced

My colleague Jocelyn Guyer blogged about legislation introduced by Senator Hatch in the Senate and Represenative Gingrey in the House to repeal the stability protections (aka "maintenance of effort" requirements).  We've heard this legislation may be marked up in a House Committee as early as next week.

A Call for Hearings on Impact of Ryan Budget on Medicaid & Medicare Beneficiaries

 Four seasoned Members of Congress with decades of health policy experience expressed concern about the lack of Congressional scrutiny over how the Ryan budget plan would impact those who rely on Medicare and Medicaid to meet their health care needs.  The four serve as ranking members of the panels with jurisdiction over Medicaid and Medicare and have asked the Committee Chairmen to hold hearings on the impact of  Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget plan that was approved by the House.   The letter, signed by Ranking Members Waxman, Levin, Stark and Pallone, points out that the far-reaching changes to Medicare and Medicaid included in the budget plan absolutely necessitate hearings on how such cuts would impact these vital programs and the people that rely upon them.  They write that the Ryan budget is not a cost-savings plan but a cost-shifting plan that would pass costs onto states, local communities, providers, seniors, people with disabilities and children and families.

All Eyes on the Debt Ceiling

While there are many skirmishes going on that would impact health care coverage, the major battle will take place when policymakers take up legislation to raise the debt ceiling. Behind-the-scenes talks are underway and Members of Congress have a wide range of demands of proposals they want to attach in exchange for their vote - everything from repealing the Affordable Care Act to a global spending cap with an automatic trigger.   The Administration has proposed a "Debt Fail-Safe" trigger that would place a cap on debt as a percent of GDP, instead of spending as a percent of GDP.  It would allow the use of both revenues and spending to decrease the deficit and debt.   Which proposals (hopefully none of them)  will end up on the final debt ceiling bill remains an open question but one thing is certain - this is a high stakes battle for those who rely upon Medicaid for their health insurance.