AFSCME Legislative Report
AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
December 12, 2007
In this issue:
Senate GOP and White House Side with Health Insurance Industry Against Seniors and Doctors
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has been trying for weeks to negotiate a deal with Senate GOP leaders that would prevent a 10 percent scheduled cut in Medicare payments to doctors, improve Medicare benefits for low-income seniors and pay for these changes by reducing the windfall subsidies paid to private, so-called, "Medicare Advantage" plans. The negotiations broke down this week after GOP leaders refused to accept cuts in the subsidies to private plans and the Bush Administration threatened to veto any bill with such cuts.
Medicare Advantage plans are private alternatives to traditional Medicare. These plans are paid, on average, 12 percent more than what it costs to cover a beneficiary under traditional Medicare. Because the Medicare Advantage plans are so lucrative, the insurance industry is working hard to hold onto the windfall subsidies.
Despite intransigence from the White House and GOP leaders, it appears that House and Senate Democratic leaders will go ahead with a Medicare bill and face yet another veto showdown with the President.
(Barbara Coufal- bcoufal@afscme.org)
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SCHIP Bill Sent to President; Veto Expected
On Friday, November 30, Democratic leaders sent President Bush a compromise bill to renew the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This is a bill that had been approved by the House and Senate a month ago, but had not been sent to the President in order to allow for further negotiations with House Republicans in an effort to win enough support to override a presidential veto. In the end, the negotiations could not win over additional House Republicans who seemed willing to negotiate changes in the bill but unwilling to agree to vote for the bill.
It appears that the Democratic leadership will send a bill to the floor to continue the program for a limited time under current law. It also appears that Democratic leaders plan to add extra funds to the bill for states that face funding shortfalls. Twenty-one states expect to run out of federal funds and many may be forced to take coverage away from kids that now have it.
(Barbara Coufal- bcoufal@afscme.org)
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FY 2008 Funding Bills -- The Saga Continues
As 2007 is quickly coming to an end, Congress is furiously working to package the remaining 11 spending bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD), and Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bills. All three bills are a critical source of funding for the programs in which AFSCME members work.
The omnibus measure being fashioned by Democratic leaders is reported to "split the difference" between Congress' and the President's funding levels to the tune of a $10.6 billion reduction for Congress' spending levels. A vote is expected in the House next Tuesday, with the Senate attempting to bring the omnibus package up for a vote shortly thereafter. The Senate requires 60 "yes" votes before it can come to the floor. The current continuing resolution (CR) expires next Friday, December 14, and at least one more stop gap spending bill is expected before FY 2008 funding wraps up.
The President has stubbornly refused to negotiate and has vowed to veto even a "split the difference" package. Only a veto-proof vote in the House and Senate could ensure that the omnibus would finalize FY 2008 spending. That means that additional Republican support in both the House, to override the veto, and the Senate, to get the bill to the floor, is critical. We encourage you to contact your Representative and Senators to urge them to support the omnibus package.
(Becky Levin- blevin@afscme.org)
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Half a Million Women and Children Face Losing WIC Nutritional Assistance
Half a million low-income pregnant women, infants, and children will be denied nutritional benefits if President Bush continues to refuse to increase the funding level in his FY 2008 budget for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Since the President proposed his budget in February, food prices have increased substantially, particularly for milk and cheese which account for about 40 percent of WIC food expenditures. Additionally, WIC average monthly caseloads have risen from serving 8.3 million people to serving 8.5 million since February. The pending House and Senate agriculture appropriations bills provide more WIC funding than the President has proposed. And, both bills include report language making a commitment to monitor WIC costs closely and "take additional action as necessary to ensure that funding provided in FY 2008 is sufficient to serve all eligible applicants."
(Fran Bernstein- fbernstein@afscme.org)
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Senate Passes One-Year Patch for Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Without Offsets After Republicans Block Offsets
Facing a Republican filibuster blocking any revenue offsets, the Senate voted 88-5 to pass a one-year $50 billion patch of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) without offsetting revenue raisers. The AMT patch will provide tax relief to 23 million families. Earlier in the Senate, Republicans twice blocked Democrats' procedural efforts to vote on an AMT package with partial offsets. First, the Senate, along party lines, voted 46-48 to reject limiting debate (60 votes are needed to limit debate) and move to a vote on the House's revenue neutral $77 billion AMT bill (H.R. 3996). The House bill provides both a one-year AMT patch and extends several expiring tax provisions and fully offsets all these costs with tax increases targeting the wealthiest taxpayers. It also would expand the child tax credit to help 12 million children, provide college tuition deductions to 4.5 million families, and provide property tax relief to 30 million families. Second, Republicans rejected Democrats' unanimous consent request to consider a compromise with a one-year AMT patch without offsets and two-year extenders with offsets.
The political problem for the AMT patch is that Senate Republicans insist on no offsets and House Democrats insist on offsets to ensure fiscal responsibility and to respect the new PAYGO rules they championed in upon taking control of the House in early 2007. The conservative Democratic Blue Dog caucus recently wrote a letter strongly reaffirming their PAYGO support and House Democratic leaders also reaffirmed their support for PAYGO. An AMT bill is considered "must pass" legislation and if a freestanding AMT bill does not pass, it would likely be added to the expected year end omnibus appropriations package.
(Marc Granowitter- mgranowitter@afscme.org)
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House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on Streamlined Sales Tax Simplification
The House Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing to update lawmakers on states' progress to finalize the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement and to review the bipartisan Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act (H.R. 3396). The bill would make it easier to require "remote sellers," including Internet vendors, catalog companies, and other mail-order houses, to collect sales tax across state borders. Various lawmakers stressed that the current sales tax system discriminates against "brick and mortar" main street stores and reduces state and local revenues needed to fund public safety, transportation, and other vital public services. Experts estimated that for 2008 electronic commerce sales, the combined state and local revenue loss is about $16 billion and total revenue losses are $33 billion.
(Marc Granowitter- mgranowitter@afscme.org)
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List of Poor-Performing Nursing Homes Published
Last week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a list of the nation's poor performing nursing homes. The facilities listed were deemed to consistently provide poor quality care yet were instituting temporary improvements to cycle into compliance but then lapse out of compliance. Facilities with a "yo-yo" compliance history often do not address systemic problems. The list of the facilities under the special focus program is at www.cms.hhs.gov/CertificationandComplianc/Downloads/SFFList.pdf .
(Linda Bennett- lbennett@afscme.org)
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Bill to Protect Interests of ICFs/MR Residents Introduced
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has introduced legislation (H.R. 3995) to protect the interests of residents of Medicaid-licensed and certified Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICFs/MR) in class action lawsuits. The bill would require that ICF/MR residents and their legal guardians receive notice prior to the filing of a class action lawsuit concerning an ICF/MR and provide prospective plaintiffs and their legal guardians with a time-limited opportunity to "opt out" of the lawsuit. Without notification and the possibility to opt out of a suit, a guardian may be unable to assure that any resolution of the lawsuit adequately addresses the needs of his or her ward who has severe and profound intellectual and developmental disabilities. Attorneys pursuing class action lawsuits may be well-intentioned in their desire to correct real and perceived problems in intermediate care facilities on behalf of the class they purport to represent, but it is a legal guardian's obligation to focus exclusively on the needs and desires of his or her individual ward. Without required notice or opportunity to opt out of a class action lawsuit concerning an intermediate care facility, current law in effect allows the decisions of a class action attorney to trump the considered views of an individual resident's legal guardian. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.
(Linda Bennett– lbennett@afscme.org)
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AFSCME Department of Legislation
Phone:
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Fax: 202/223-3413
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