March 23, 2018

Government Funding Bill Signed Into Law

Despite a threatening tweet earlier this morning, President Trump signed into law today a bill funding the government through the end of the fiscal year.

Major healthcare funding included in the bill:

• $10 billion funding increase for the Department of Health and Human Services
• $2.5 billion to combat the opioid crises
• $8.3 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• This includes $1.45 billion for CDC’s Public Health Preparedness and Response programs (an increase of $45 million) to provide funding for the Strategic National Stockpile and State and Local Preparedness.

Not included in the final legislation was the Alexander-Murray language to stabilize the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Despite reaching an agreement on the bipartisan provision six months ago, a push by Republicans to include a prohibition on insurance plans that receive ACA’s cost-sharing payments from offering abortion coverage lost the support of the Democrats, and the Alexander-Murray agreement was dropped from the Omnibus package. It is possible the Senate may still take up the package as a standalone measure later this year.

Please feel free to reach out to HIDA Government Affairs with questions or comments at HIDAGovAffairs@HIDA.org or at 703-549-4432.