Recent momentum in the ongoing health care reform debate in Congress was brought to an abrupt halt last week as conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee (the last of the three committees needed to approve the legislation in the House), refused to sign off on the bill, thereby halting progress indefinitely. However, late last week reports indicated a compromise may have been reached with the committee chair, but the deal is not sitting well with the health care industry, including IHA.

The Blue Dogs, supported by budget figures from the Congressional Budget Office, shared concerns that that House bill doesn’t go far enough to rein in Medicare spending over time and runs the potential of increasing the national deficit by $250 billion over 10 years.  Their solution is to transfer the authority of setting Medicare payment rates from Congress to the executive branch through an “Independent Medicare Advisory Commission” that, along with the president, would have unprecedented power to set annual payment rates for doctors, hospitals and other health care providers.

Further, once the commission announces Medicare payment rate cuts (or increases), Congress would then have 30 days for both chambers to pass a “joint resolution of disapproval,” which would be subject to a presidential veto that would require a difficult-to-achieve two-thirds majority “override” vote to undo the commission’s recommendations.

This is an unacceptable proposal that is opposed by IHA.  Not only does this strip power from Congress, but it also removes hospitals and providers from the debate, as a presidentially appointed commission is less likely to listen to input from industry leaders.

IHA has been in contact with Congressman Bruce Braley, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to express opposition to this measure.  At this time, Braley, who is not a Blue Dog, has not commented on his support or opposition to this compromise.

Meanwhile, the Senate has also ground its efforts to a near halt as Democratic leaders announced this week that they have abandoned plans for a vote on health care reform before Congress’ August recess.  This news comes one day after President Obama’s fourth prime-time news conference on the issue of health care reform.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), held a news conference echoing many legislators from both sides of the aisle, saying, “It’s better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through.”

The Senate Finance Committee has yet to release its legislation and is still working to put together a comprehensive, bipartisan proposal.

IHA continues to work with Iowa’s Congressional Delegation on the many issues that remain outstanding in the health care reform debate, including the need to include an efficiency measure based on cost in the proposed value-based purchasing program in Medicare.