On December 19, the House approved, 212-206, the conference report for the FY2006 spending reconciliation bill (S. 1932), which establishes $39.7 billion in savings over five years. The Senate approved the measure with minor amendments, 51-50, after Vice President Dick Cheney voted to the break the tie on December 21. The House did not consider the Senate amendments before adjourning for the year on December 22.
S. 1932 produces $6.9 billion in savings from Medicaid by recalculating the price paid for prescription drugs, increasing rebates for outpatient drugs, making it more difficult for seniors to spend down their assets in order to qualify for Medicaid, creating rules to crack down on fraud and abuse in the program, giving states the flexibility to structure Medicaid coverage in a fashion similar to private health insurance plans, and increasing state flexibility in setting Medicaid cost-sharing and premiums.
The measure extends Medicaid coverage for children with disabilities whose family income is above the financial standards for Supplemental Security Income but no more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill also extends the Transitional Medicaid Assistance and abstinence education programs through December 31, 2006. In addition, $2.1 billion is provided for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to help pay their Medicaid costs.
S. 1932 also produces $6.4 billion in savings from Medicare by reducing the reimbursement for certain imaging services; providing higher payments to insurance plans that cover sicker patients and lower payments to plans that cover healthier patients; and requiring beneficiaries to own, rather than rent, durable medical equipment after a certain time period.
The measure incorporates the text of a bill (H.R. 240) to reauthorize the 1996 welfare reform law (P.L. 104-193). The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources approved H.R. 240 on March 15 (see The Source, 3/18/05), and the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved the bill on October 20 (see The Source, 10/21/05). The measure requires welfare recipients to work 40 hours per week, up from 30 hours under current law, and states are required to put at least 70 percent of their welfare clients to work by 2010. In addition, $1 billion is authorized for the Child Care Development Block Grant.
S. 1932 eliminates the federal matching of state child support incentive funds. The bill also clarifies that eligibility for foster care and adoption assistance is based solely on the eligibility of the original home from which the child was removed. In addition, the measure provides $100 million for strengthening family courts and $200 million in additional funding for the Safe and Stable Families Program.
