January 24, 2005

 

This Week in Congress
 
The House and Senate are back in session this week, with the Senate focused mainly on the confirmation process for several outstanding cabinet nominees.  Today, January 24, floor debate and a vote is expected on the nomination of Carlos M. Gutierrez to be U.S. Secretary of Commerce.  On Tuesday, January 25, floor debate is expected on the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to be U.S. Secretary of State, with a vote scheduled for Wednesday, January 26.  Later in the week, floor debates and votes could occur on any other cabinet nominees who have been approved by the appropriate committees.  The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is expected to hold a confirmation hearing today on the nomination of Jim Nicholson to be U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with a committee vote on the nomination scheduled for later in the day.  In addition, the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Governor Mike Leavitt to be U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, January 25.  On Wednesday, January 26, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Samuel Bodman to be U.S. Secretary of Energy, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to consider the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be U.S. Attorney General.
 
The House is scheduled to be in session for only two days this week (Tuesday, January 25, and Wednesday, January 26) to consider several non-controversial measures under suspension, as well as a measure to alter the rules for awarding the Congressional Gold Medal.  On Thursday, January 27, and Friday, January 28, House Republican Members will be attending their annual retreat in West Virginia.
 
 
Tight FY 2006 Budget is Underway
 
Although the details will not be known until the President releases his FY 2006 budget on February 7, rumblings inside the beltway continue to indicate a freeze on non-defense, non-homeland security domestic discretionary spending.  The White House also plans to reintroduce measures to stem the growth of federal health care and other entitlement programs that rise automatically each year based on set formulas.  Notwithstanding the general freeze on non-defense, non-homeland domestic discretionary spending, the White House has already indicated that a few programs will see increases in FY 2006, such as student testing under NCLB and college Pell Grants.  Other administration budget priorities are likely to be highlighted in the president's State of the Union address on February 2.
 
CMS Announces Final Regulations on Medicare Drug Law
 
On Friday, January 21, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final regulations for the Medicare Drug Benefit and the Medicare Advantage Program (Title I & II of the MMA).  The final regulations offer some clarification about the transition of the 6.5 million dual eligibles from Medicaid to Medicare, who, if they do not prospectively choose a new Medicare plan, will now be auto-enrolled into a plan by CMS well in advance of the January 1, 2006 deadline.  CMS will also be assisting states in the implementation of the benefit by providing a single point of contact for each state to help with state specific issues, and to ensure that each state gets the maximum savings with the least possible administrative burden. 
 
The final regulations acknowledge that many unresolved issues still remain.  CMS will continue to work in collaboration with states on issues such as low-income subsidy determinations, other details around dual eligible transitions, details on the "clawback," continuing state coverage for drugs excluded from the Medicare drug benefit, and dual eligible living in nursing facilities.   Additional information about the final regulations can be found on CMS' website:  www.cms.hhs.gov
 

CMS Announces Reallocation of FY 2002 Unspent SCHIP Allotments

In a January 19, Federal Register notice, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is redistributing all of the $642.6 million in unspent State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) allotments from FY 2002 to 28 states and $6.7 million to five commonwealth and territories to address projected state shortfalls. Under current law, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services is required to fully redistribute allotments that remain unspent after three years.  Although in past years Congress has enacted legislation to require a balance between redistribution and retention, the most recent attempt at legislation was not adopted by the 108th Congress, which resulted in $1.1 billion in unspent funds reverting to the federal treasury at the end of FY 2004. 

The redistributed allotments will be directed to states that have fully expended their FY 2002 allotments and the funding will remain available until the end of FY 2005.

 

 

CBO Releases Expiring Federal Laws Report

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its report "Unauthorized Appropriations and Expiring Authorizations" (January 14, 2005). The report identifies authorizing legislation that should be in place before Congress considers the 13 regular appropriations bills for fiscal year 2006. It is posted on the CBO website.