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DGR Telephone:
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Follow APA Advocacy on Twitter!
The APA Department of Government Relations is now on Twitter! Now you can find out about APA Advocacy activities, Congressional hearings, mark-ups, and floor votes in real time.
Please click on the following link to start following APA Advocacy Twitter:
http://twitter.com/apa_
advocacy
Questions about the Twitter page or how to set up an account? Please contact Kate McAllister or Jason Pray at advocacy@psych.org. | |
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House Passes Health Bill
On November 7, the House of Representatives voted 220-215 to approve H.R. 3962, the "Affordable Health Care for America Act." Only one Republican, Representative Joseph Cao (R-LA) voted with 219 Democrats in favor of the bill; 39 Democrats voted against passage. Here are some of the main provisions:
- The bill would require most individuals to buy health insurance if they don't get it through their jobs, beginning in 2013.
- Includes public option to boost choice and competition, with physician payment based on negotiated rates rather than Medicare rates.
- Covers 96% of Americans and expands coverage for the underinsured.
- Ends discrimination for pre-existing medical conditions and other factors like age and gender.
- Extends the Medicare mental health add-on payment through December 31, 2011.
- Preserves advances in mental health and substance-use disorder parity, including the protection of more generous state benefits.
- Includes mental health and substance-use disorder treatment in base benefit of all qualified health benefits plans operating in the Exchange; expands the coverage requirement to all group plans within five years.
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Appropriations Update
The House and Senate approved a measure that extends the current continuing resolution (CR) through December 18, while Congress completes work on the remaining FY '10 appropriations bills. The CR, originally scheduled to expire October 31, temporarily keeps NIH, SAMHSA, HRSA and other parts of the federal government operating at FY '09 funding levels. Lawmakers attached the new CR to the conference agreement for the FY '10 Interior-Environment appropriations bill (H.R. 2996). To date, Congress has sent five spending bills to the President, and two more are in House-Senate negotiations. The Senate has yet to consider the five other bills, including the FY 2010 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (H.R. 3293). According to press reports, the Democratic leadership is considering combining the remaining spending bills into a 'minibus' package later this month. |
Preliminary ARRA Funding Data on NIH Website
Preliminary data on NIH American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) FY '09 funding as of October 26 is available on the NIH website. According to the document, nearly 60 percent of ARRA funds are supporting "new science," while nearly 40 percent are "accelerating the science of existing projects." The report also estimates that "approximately 50,000 jobs will be created or retained," though "the number of jobs will fluctuate over time as projects are initiated, become fully operational and reach completion." Approximately 31 percent of FY '09 awards (3,895 awards totaling $1.43 billion) are for previously reviewed applications that were unpaid prior to ARRA; 11.2 percent (1,436 awards totaling $1.15 billion) support new ARRA competing projects; and 44.5 percent (5,687 awards totaling $1.51 billion) are administrative supplements.
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Low Interest Loans Authorized for HIT Adoption in Small Practices
Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3854, the Small Business Lending and Investment Act of 2009, which unlocks over $40 billion in capital for low interest loans provided by the Small Business Administration. Included in this is $10 billion allocated for health information technology (HIT) adoption for health professionals in small practice settings. The original bill, H.R. 3014, The Healthcare Information Technology Financing Act of 2009, was introduced earlier this year by Representative Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA). APA was pleased to support this measure, which will particularly assist those that do not have access to the full Medicare or Medicaid incentive provided through the HIT adoption stimulus efforts of the ARRA passed earlier this year. Those that do qualify for the full incentive may also benefit since the costs of HIT adoption exceed the early incentive payments. The bill must pass through the Senate before reaching the President's desk for signature. | |
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