Health Care Reform Legislation Will Hit House Floor By Early Fall, Key Staffer Predicts
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
House Energy and Commerce panel plans kickoff hearing March 10.
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Health care reform legislation should reach the House floor by "late summer or early fall," a key staffer predicted March 3 during Avalere Health's Diabetes Forum 2009. Wendell Primus, senior policy advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told the conference that decisions about the timing of health reform legislation have not yet been made. However, "I would presume it is going to be summer or early fall" when legislation reaches the floor. The House is already starting the hearing process, Primus noted. The Energy and Commerce Committee's health panel, chaired by New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone, has scheduled a kickoff hearing for March 10. The House will work towards a "significant bill that will increase coverage," Primus said. The leadership is "going to aim for universality, but I don't know if we are going to get there." Primus estimates that the $634 billion "down payment" proposed in the Obama administration budget is enough to "finance about a third to a half of what will ultimately be needed to get close to the goal of universal access." Tobacco regulation, stem cell research are on near-term agenda "Going through the details is going to take some time," Primus said. In the meantime, the House has a lot of other business to attend to. "The next health bill you are going to see is FDA and the regulation of tobacco," Primus said. "Then perhaps a stem cell bill. We have a budget resolution and we have energy, so I don't have a firm view" on when health care reform moves to center stage. The House timeline suggested by Primus is less aggressive than the schedule outlined by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., during a media briefing sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Families USA, and the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Baucus said his goal is to have legislation ready for the Senate floor by June or July. However, Rep. Pallone has already made clear his view that, whatever the Senate may say, the House will take the lead on the health care debate, working with the Obama administration (1 (Also see "Daschle Withdrawal May Have Upside For Health Care Reform, Sen. Bennett Says" - Pink Sheet, 11 Feb, 2009.)). During the Avalere conference, Republican House staffer Dan Elling offered his perspective on the chances of reform. Elling, who directs the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee minority staff, said that "until recently, I would have said there is very little chance of [comprehensive reform] happening this year." However, "it seems like there is a renewed effort" from the Administration and the Democratic leadership. Still, Elling predicts, with so much spending on stimulus bills and financial rescue plans, "there is not going to be much appetite for another $1 trillion in health care spending." "I'd say there is maybe a 20 percent chance of getting something done this year," he said. -Michael McCaughan ([email protected]) |