With some Congressional Republicans suggesting that a repeal of the ACA is still front and center it will not likely happen when the Congress returns after the spring break. With the CR funding due for resolution within days of reconvening, a full FY 2018 budget release in Mid-May, and a desire to do a tax
On Friday afternoon President Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WS) pulled the American Health Care Act from a floor to prevent a vote that would have ended in defeat. The loss came after a tumultuous week of changes to the bill just a few days earlier. Essentially Ryan could not come up with a
On Tuesday, March 21, the Senate Special Committee on Aging, held a re-scheduled hearing on, Grandparents to the Rescue: Raising Grandchildren in the Opioid Crisis and Beyond. Committee Chairperson Susan Collins (R-ME) opened the hearing by pointing out that in her state of Maine nearly 1,000 or eight percent of all births – were born
The President’s proposed budget for discretionary spending for 2018 landed with a crash as it includes dramatic cuts across agencies and departments as a way to pay for increases to the Pentagon. The proposal was released on Thursday, March16 and applies to the discretionary portion of federal spending with the rest to be published with
On Tuesday, March 14, CWLA sent a letter to Capitol Hill opposing the American Health Care Act. Citing the new Congressional Budget Office analysis, in the letter, CWLA President and CEO Chris James-Brown points out the importance of expanded mental health and substance abuse services saying, “The availability of health care coverage through the Affordable
Late Monday, March 13, The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its required analysis of the American Health Care Act concluding that it would both reduce the number of people with health insurance while cutting health care costs to the federal government. The analysis determined that 14 million people would become uninsured next year (2018), 21
On Wednesday, March 15, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing and took the first step toward a reauthorization of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. Members from both sides seemed positive in their assessment of the program they were also well informed on how the
The House health care plan confronts what are two overarching Medicaid issues but the second one may be the most significant. The first issue is how to deal with the Medicaid expansion enacted under the ACA. Thirty-one states have expanded their Medicaid programs to all adults up to 138 percent of poverty. The second issue
On Thursday, March 9, more than 80 members of Congress signed onto a letter to denounce a suggestion by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly that the Department might look at foster care placements as an enforcement tool regarding immigration. At a press conference, led by Congressperson Karen Bass (D-CA), several members of Congress addressed reporters
Last fall when HHS released the new ACFARS Report Number 23, they pointed out that nearly three quarters of states reported an increase in the numbers of children entering foster care from 2014 to 2015. They went on to highlight that the five states with the largest increases were Florida, Indiana, Georgia, Arizona, and Minnesota;
