Last week the U.S. Senate was unable to vote on HR 6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients Providers Act. The Senate voted 58-40 to cut off debate and take up the bill, but they were two votes shy of what was needed.

What does this mean? If the Senate vote to cut off the debate ended up 60-40, the Senate would have been forced to vote on the bill. Instead, the Senate debated endlessly (filibuster) until they finally adjourned to go home for the entire next week. Because of this inaction, payments for physicians who treat Medicare recipients were cut by 10.6 percent on July 1st.

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Yesterday, Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and the rest of the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee approved its FY 2009 spending bill.

The bill makes major investments in healthcare including:

Colorectal Screenings – The Subcommittee provided $25 million to establish a nation-wide program to support colorectal screenings for low-income individuals.

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As I mentioned last week, the FY08 emergency supplemental appropriations bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. Included in the bill was an additional $150 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The package will now be sent to the Senate where it is expected to be greeted with similar support. It is also important to note that White House Budget Director Jim Nussle went on record last Thursday to express the administration’s approval of the final package.

Stay tuned…

The fate of the FY 08 emergency supplemental appropriations bill in the House was finally decided last night. Leaders on both sides negotiated a deal and came up with a bill that will likely be signed by the President.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was one of the big winners, snagging an additional $150 million. A much lower number than we had hoped for, but a victory nonetheless.

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The House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee is currently marking-up its fiscal year 2009 spending bill. This bill will provide funding for federal health and education programs during the upcoming fiscal year.

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