Kaiser Daily- Jan. 13, 2009

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, examines possible House action on the reauthorization of SCHIP, expected health care inclusions in an economic stimulus package and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing of HHS Secretary-nominee and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) in this week’s “Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ.” Click the title to read the full article

Carey says the House this week likely will take action on legislation to reauthorize SCHIP. Although the House passed a five-year reauthorization and expansion measure during the last Congress, the House likely will reauthorize the program for between two years and four and one-half years partly because of financing issues. A 61-cent-per-pack increase of the federal cigarette tax included in the bill is unlikely to fund the program for five years, according to Carey. She adds, “Democrats likely feel the need to move quickly,” but “passing a smaller extension now does not preclude Democrats from passing a larger extension later as part of a broader health reform measure.” According to Carey, Republicans are likely to “raise the same objections they have in previous SCHIP debates” and request the addition of provisions, such as including insuring all eligible children in families with annual incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level, tighter citizenship requirements and language to prevent children from dropping their private coverage to become SCHIP beneficiaries.

Carey also discusses the possible inclusion in an economic stimulus package of additional funds for Medicaid, health information technology and an expansion of COBRA and subsidies to help people pay for coverage through COBRA. Democrats already have begun drafting the package, which will face committee hearings and mark ups, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The measure could reach the House floor as early as the week of Jan. 26. If the package is not completed by the President’s Day recess in February, Pelosi says she will cancel the break, according to Carey. Congressional Republicans are concerned about the measure’s cost, according to Carey. Republicans “also say that they believe not moving a stimulus package could cause harm to the economy,” according to Carey.

In addition, Carey discusses the Senate HELP Committee confirmation hearing for Daschle. According to Carey, Daschle “received a warm reception from his former colleagues” and “let Republicans on the panel know that President-elect Obama does not intend to use the ‘budget reconciliation’ process to pass health reform.” During the hearing Daschle “was asked to support a variety of senators’ issues, such as more funding for health care prevention and for community health centers; beefing up drug oversight at [FDA]; and greater research funding for [NIH],” according to Carey. However, Daschle was not asked about his work at a lobbying firm, his wife’s work as a lobbyist, or how he would handle his dual roles as HHS secretary and director of the White House Office of Health Reform, according to Carey. She adds that “those questions, and possible others about Obama’s health care priorities,” could be brought up during Daschle’s second and final confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

The complete audio version of “Health on the Hill,” transcript and resources for further research are available online at kaisernetwork.org.