01 Mar House Passes Covid Relief Package; NO New Direct Hospital Relief Included; Senate Considering
The House passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and sent the bill to the Senate where the Parliamentarian has already judged that a number of the provisions contained in the bill, including the $15 minimum wage, must be removed in order for the bill to move under reconciliation that only requires a simple majority to pass. (Click here for a summary of the House-passed version. Click here for a more expansive summary from the House Budget Committee.) The “manager’s amendment” made several changes however, core provisions such as $1,400 stimulus payments and unemployment benefit extension remain. While the bill still does not contain any direct funding for hospitals, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is pushing an amendment that would create a new $35 billion provider relief fund, with 20 percent of that going to rural providers, including CAHs. Click here for the Manchin amendment.
- The stimulus package would trigger $36 billion in cuts to Medicare in fiscal 2022, due to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 that requires mandatory spending cuts if revenue increases are not offset by cuts to other spending. Congress would need to enact a waiver to the law to avoid these cuts, click here.
- New Kaufman Hall report shows that hospitals could lose between $53 billion and $122 billion more during 2021 because of the pandemic, click here.
- Rural hospitals in non-Medicaid-expansion states are hit the hardest and the Commonwealth Funds says Medicaid expansion could help keep the hospitals open. Click here for their new video.