Congress Reaches Deal to End Shutdown, Raise Debt Limit
On October 16, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Continuing Appropriations Resolution of 2014 (H.R. 2775). The deal ends the partial government shutdown by maintaining Fiscal Year 2013 post-sequester discretionary spending levels until January 15, 2014. The bill also renews the federal debt limit until approximately February 7, 2014 and revamps the procedures for Congress to raise future debt caps.
Upon passage of the bill, all federal agencies and furloughed workers immediately resumed operations. Meanwhile, the House has adjourned until October 22, and the Senate will return on October 28. While the deal avoided a default on the debt limit, the stopgap nature of the agreement sets up a potential replay of the fiscal fight for early 2014.
A separate deal (S.Con.Res.8 and H.Con.Res.24) also passed on Wednesday that enables bicameral deliberations on a combined fiscal 2014 budget plan. The resolution sets a targeted December 13 deadline for budget committee conference members to come up with a range of deficit reduction proposals that could include new Medicare spending cuts.
Despite the debate leading up to the budget deal centering almost completely on delaying or defunding the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), the final deal is light on health care-related provisions. While Republicans “won” HHS certification of the insurance exchange subsidy verification process, the ACA otherwise came out of the shutdown intact.
Committees Continue SGR Deliberations
Throughout the partial government shutdown, all legislative work came to a halt. With Congress back in session, health care-related congressional committees will resume work on finding some way to pay for the annual adjustment of the Medicare physician payment formula known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) formula or “doc fix.” While the last “doc fix” expires at the end of 2013, this week’s budget deal could speed up that timetable or delay it until the next budget negotiation deadline in mid-January.
The deal creates a mid-December deadline for a bipartisan budget conference committee to agree on a budget resolution. This committee could provide a way for lawmakers to pass legislation that permanently replaces the SGR formula. However, it is more likely that Congress will adopt another temporary “doc fix” that is included in the government funding legislation and must be passed before January 15, 2014 in order to avoid another partial government shutdown.
Bills Introduced This Week
There were no health-related bills introduced in Congress this week.
Next Week in Washington
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Thursday, October 24 on the health care law’s rollout. HHS Secretary Sebelius has rebuffed its request to attend the hearing, and HHS hasn’t said whether other officials will testify instead.
For more information, please contact John F. Williams, III at 317-977-1462 or jwilliams@hallrender.com.
