Congress Approves
Continuing Resolution, Short-Term Fix for CHIP
Congress passed a
continuing resolution last week to keep the government funded at fiscal year
2017 levels through Dec. 22. This action eliminated the threat of a government
shutdown for the moment. The continuing resolution included a provision to
temporarily help states continue to operate programs funded by the federal
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) while Congress works to finalize an
agreement to fully reauthorize the program. The CHIP stopgap provision allows
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to redistribute unexpended
CHIP funds to states that run out of money for the program.
Much Work Remains
to Be Done
Much work remains
to be done in Congress as the end of the year approaches. Congress needs to
come to agreement on how to address several priorities, including: fully
reauthorizing CHIP, the Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting
(MIECHV) program, and other expired programs; tax reform; immigration; health
insurance market stabilization; disaster relief; and last, but not least, a
deal on lifting the budget caps and passing fiscal year 2018 appropriations
into law.
Senate Hearings
for HHS Secretary Nominee
The Senate
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee recently held a hearing on the
nomination of Alex Azar to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Much of the hearing focused on Azar’s work as a pharmaceutical executive and
how he would address prescription drug pricing as secretary. In addition to
tackling drug prices, Azar testified that his priorities as secretary would be
to make health care more affordable and available, continue to move toward
value-based payment for Medicare, and fight the opioid epidemic. He stated that
he supports the concept of converting Medicaid from an open entitlement to a
block grant program. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to hold a second
hearing on Azar’s nomination next week.