OVERNIGHT HEALTHCARE: Senate tees up Medicare votes

by Sarah Ferris - 04/13/15 6:18 PM ET

The Senate is expected to hold a series of long-awaited votes Tuesday on changes to a roughly $200 billion Medicare deal that has already been resoundingly approved by the House.

Senators will vote on at least four amendments to the House’s so-called “doc fix” bill, including three from Senate Democrats, according to aides and lobbyists familiar with the negotiations.

The chamber’s leaders are expected to enforce limited debate on the amendments, which likely means 60 votes will be required for passage, according to a lobbyist familiar with the talks. The leaders hope to have a deal “hammered out” by Monday evening with votes planned for Tuesday afternoon, the lobbyist said.

{mosads}Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on the floor Monday that he wants “three simple amendments” in exchange for agreeing to move quickly on the House-passed bill. Reid did not specify what proposals the amendments would contain. But two people familiar with the talks, including a Senate Democratic aide, said Democrats want a four-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the removal of abortion-related language known as the Hyde Amendment and a repeal of the Medicare therapy cap.

The children’s insurance program is extended for two years under the bill, which has been a frequent target of criticism from Senate Democrats. Democrats have also blasted the bill’s inclusion of Hyde Amendment language that bans public funding for abortions in community health programs, which they argue is already enforced under federal law.

Repeal of Medicare’s annual cap on outpatient therapy costs has been a top priority for groups such as AARP and stands to gain some bipartisan support.

Senate Republicans are also planning at least one amendment. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced Sunday that he wanted Congress to pay for the $141 billion deal under the “Pay As You Go budget rules,” which he said would prevent the full cost from being added to the deficit.

Lee, who is up for reelection in 2016, described his plan in an op-ed for the Deseret News on Sunday, though he offered few details about how he would reduce the costs. Read more here.

UNINSURED RATE KEEPS FALLING: Nearly 9 in 10 adults now have health insurance, according to poll results released Monday.

The number of people without healthcare dropped another percentage point in 2014, which means that just 11.9 percent of people in the United States now say they lack health insurance, according to the Gallup-Healthways survey.

Since ObamaCare’s coverage expansion went into effect at the beginning of 2014, the rate has fallen from 17.1 percent. Read more here.

HHS SAYS NO DEADLINE EXCEPTIONS FOR NEW MOMS: The Obama administration has denied a request from several dozen Democrats to give soon-to-be moms another chance to sign up for ObamaCare if they missed the deadline.

HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said the agency does not have “the legal authority” to create a special enrollment period for expectant mothers. She wrote in response to a March letter sent by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee ranking member Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) with 36 signatures.

Burwell said pregnant women could enroll in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Read more here.

Tuesday’s schedule

The House Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on the individual and employer mandates.

The American Cancer Society’s political arm will hold a conference on the cost of cancer care at the National Press Club.

The Brookings Institution will hold a panel on the Affordable Care Act’s policy implications after five years.

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