Health Budget Reconciliation Amendments

Author : Congressional Research Service
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781545389164
Total Pages : 24 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (891 download)

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Download or read book H.r. 1628 written by Congressional Research Service and published by . This book was released on 2017-04-15 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newest Edition, Updated April 2017In January 2017, the House and Senate adopted a budget resolution for FY2017 (S.Con.Res. 3), which reflects an agreement between the chambers on the budget for FY2017 and sets forth budgetary levels for FY2018-FY2026. S.Con.Res. 3 also includes reconciliation instructions directing specific committees to develop and report legislation that would change laws within their respective jurisdictions to reduce the deficit. These instructions trigger the budget reconciliation process, which may allow certain legislation to be considered under expedited procedures. The reconciliation instructions included in S.Con.Res. 3 direct two committees in each chamber to report legislation within their jurisdictions that would reduce the deficit by $1 billion over the period of FY2017 through FY2026. In the House, the Committee on Ways and Means and the Energy and Commerce Committee are directed to report. In the Senate, the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions are directed to report.On March 6, 2017, the Committee on Ways and Means and the Energy and Commerce Committee independently held markups. Each committee voted to transmit its budget reconciliation legislative recommendations to the House Committee on the Budget. On March 16, 2017, the House Committee on the Budget held a markup and voted to report a reconciliation bill, H.R. 1628, American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017. On March 22, the House Rules Committee held a hearing on the AHCA, and on March 24, the Rules Committee reported H.Res. 228, providing for the consideration of the AHCA. H.Res. 228, which was agreed to by the House on March 24, provided for four hours of debate on the AHCA and automatically amended the AHCA to incorporate five "manager's amendments" described as making technical and policy changes to the version of AHCA as reported by the House Budget Committee. After debate occurred on the bill, the Speaker pro tempore postponed further consideration of the bill. On April 6, the House Rules Committee reported H.Res. 254, which provides that should the House return to consideration of the AHCA, an additional amendment would be automatically agreed to, upon adoption of the resolution. This report includes information on the AHCA incorporating each of the six amendments included in H.Res. 228 and H.Res. 254, as noted above.The AHCA includes a number of provisions that would repeal or modify parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148, as amended) and a number of provisions that do not specifically relate to aspects of the ACA. This report contains three tables that, together, provide an overview of the AHCA provisions. Table 1 includes provisions that apply to the private health insurance market, Table 2 includes provisions that affect the Medicaid program, and Table 3 includes provisions related to public health and taxes. Each table contains a column identifying whether the AHCA provision is related to an ACA provision (e.g., whether it repeals an ACA-related provision).The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) issued a cost estimate for the AHCA, as amended by four of the five manager's amendments agreed to under H.Res. 228 (4, 5, 24, and 25 but not 31). The estimate does not incorporate the amendment referenced in H.Res. 254. According to the estimate, the AHCA would reduce federal deficits by $150 billion over the period FY2017-FY2026. With respect to effects on health insurance coverage, CBO and JCT project that, in FY2018, 14 million more people would be uninsured under the AHCA than under current law and, in FY2026, 24 million more people would be uninsured.