Government Shutdown Looms as Budget Impasse Continues - February 24, 2011

Late last week, the House of Representatives passed legislation to fund the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year. The House-passed bill would reduce non-Defense discretionary spending by more than $60 billion over the next seven months. The House bill also includes a number of provisions to “defund” the Affordable Care Act by barring federal funds to be used to implement certain provisions in the law. While both chambers are in recess this week, the Senate is contemplating much smaller cuts as part of a Continuing Resolution (CR) it will consider next week. Because the two sides are unlikely to come to agreement before the current CR ends on March 4, immediate focus is now on how to craft a short-term CR to allow for additional time for negotiations. House Republicans leaders are insisting that the short-term CR include budget cuts – Senate Democrats are resisting. If the two sides are unable to reach agreement before March 4, the federal government will shut down with exception of essential services.

In other action on Capitol Hill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing on March 1 to discuss the impact of the Affordable Care Act on state Medicaid programs. The committee is expected to host a bipartisan panel of governors to talk about the state of their Medicaid programs. NAPH expects the hearing to kick off a legislative effort in the House to reduce Medicaid costs. House Republicans appear to be particularly focused on changing the Affordable Care Act’s provisions which require states to maintain their Medicaid eligibility levels with some exceptions. With Medicaid a central focus in Washington, we continue to encourage hospitals to send representatives to our upcoming Community Leaders Legislative Event on March 7-8. While the deadline for discounted hotel rooms has passed, we are still accepting registrations.