This week in Washington: CBO Scores Reconciliation Package While House Waits.
House
Reconciliation Update
In a Nov. 9 post, Congressional Budget Committee (CBO) Director Phillip Swagel said the CBO is in the process of preparing a cost estimate for the $1.75 trillion social spending reconciliation package. Swagel stated that the CBO will release estimates for some of the bill’s titles within the week, while other titles will take longer. Moderate House Democrats previously stated they would not vote for the reconciliation package until seeing the CBO scores.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has committed to holding votes on the $1.75 trillion social spending reconciliation package before Thanksgiving.
150 Members of Congress Request the Surprise Billing Final Rule be Amended
On Nov. 5, a group of 150 members of Congress, led by Reps. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY), wrote to the Secretaries of the Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor Departments. In the letter, the members requested that the recent Interim Final Rule for Surprise Billing be amended to align with the No Surprises Act, which was passed by Congress in 2020. Specifically, the letter states that the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process in the final rule does not align with the process laid out in the No Surprises Act and represents an unbalanced approach.
The letter can be found here.
Read more on healthcare policy in McGuireWoods Consulting’s Washington Healthcare Update.