House to vote on bipartisan ObamaCare tweaks

Even with a looming Supreme Court decision on ObamaCare threatening to set off a new round of partisan fighting, the House will turn its attention to health bills with bipartisan support in June.  

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced in a memo Friday that the chamber will turn its attention to repealing two parts of ObamaCare that some members of both parties have agreed should be dropped.  

One bill, with 40 Democratic co-sponsors, would repeal the law’s 2.3 percent tax on medical device manufacturers, a provision that has drawn the ire of members of both parties who say it impedes innovation. 

{mosads}Another measure, with 20 Democratic co-sponsors, repeals the health law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, a panel tasked with recommending Medicare cuts if spending rises above a certain target. Some Republicans have labeled it a “death panel,” and it has not been set up yet. Nominees require Senate confirmation, which would set off a fight. 

Repeal of both aspects of the law also passed the House in 2012. 

While the memo does not mention the King v. Burwell case, which could invalidate ObamaCare subsidies for 7.5 million people, the lawmakers will be under pressure to respond to such a ruling. A decision is expected in late June. 

A question mark heading into the month is the fate of the 21st Century Cures Act, aimed at speeding the approval of new medical cures.  The bill unanimously passed the Energy and Commerce Committee this month, and Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) wants a full House vote in June. 

The memo, while calling the measure “important,” says only that the House “may” consider it in June. 

The agenda, for the week of June 15-18, also includes some bipartisan tweaks to the Medicare Advantage program. That program, where the government contracts with private insurers to provide Medicare coverage, has gained support from lawmakers in both parties over the years. 

The Securing Care for Seniors Act would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to consider changes to how it calculates the risk score used to set payment levels for the insurance companies. 

Another bill, from Reps. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), would set up a test program for Medicare Advantage plans to be able to lower the costs for certain medications. The goal is to encourage patients to use the medications, which is intended to improve their health and lower costs in the long run. 

While the measures have some bipartisan support, McCarthy’s memo keeps up the attack on ObamaCare as a whole. 

“In the name of helping seniors, Obamacare is actually hurting them by weakening Medicare and increasing costs,” the memo states. “The House is acting this week to uphold our promise to defend America’s seniors.”