Republicans Gain Control of the House; Senate Democrats Lose Six Seats but Maintain Majority

In the largest turnover in the House of Representatives in more than 70 years, the Republicans gained control of the chamber with 239 seats to the 188 held by Democrats, with 8 races still undecided. Prior to the election, the Democrats had 255 seats to the Republicans' 178.

Despite Election Results, Repeal of Healthcare Reform Unlikely in the Near Future

A key Republican message during the election was a promise to “repeal and replace” the healthcare reform law. With a resounding Republican landslide in this year’s general election, the House majority will likely introduce a repeal bill early in the 112th Congress. However, even if a repeal bill is passed through both chambers, it would almost certainly be vetoed by the President. Other possibilities are repeal of certain provisions rather than the entire law and a refusal to provide additional implementation funding. Republican-led committees are likely to conduct more oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services in an attempt to increase public opposition to the law.

Congress Returns from Lame-duck Session

Senators and Members of Congress returned to Washington on November 15 for a lame-duck session to address outstanding issues.

The most pressing issue for healthcare providers will be the impending 23.6 percent reduction in Medicare Part B reimbursement payments that is scheduled to occur on December 1. This cut will take place if Congress fails to appropriate the necessary funds for the cuts mandated by the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. Also of concern is the Medicare coding offset, multi-campus hospital Electronic Health Record (EHR) incentive payments, and physician supervision requirements.

CBO to Score Multi-campus Hospital Legislation

The Congressional Budget Office is scoring recently introduced legislation that would address an issue with health information technology (HIT) incentives in the HITECH Act. The bill, versions of which have been introduced in both the House and Senate, would allow multi-campus hospitals to receive HIT incentive payments for each campus, even if they all operate under one Medicare Provider Number (MPN). Under the current law, only one incentive is provided per MPN, regardless of how many campuses are part of the hospital system.

Grassley Presses HHS for Overdue Medicaid Report

In late September, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, urged Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to deliver on a Medicaid report that was due at the beginning of this year.