House committee passes bills to extend CHIP funding, reduce EHR burden

The House Energy and Commerce Committee last night voted 28-23 along party lines to approve legislation to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program through fiscal year 2022. The federal matching rate would remain at 23% through FY 2019, change to 11.5% for FY 2020 and return to a traditional CHIP matching rate for FYs 2021 and 2022, similar to the CHIP funding bill approved yesterday by the Senate Finance Committee. Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill would delay cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals for FY 2018, but add two more years of cuts for 2026 and 2027; and provide $1 billion in Medicaid funding to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The House bill also included offsets that would reform Medicaid third-party liability and treatment of lump-sum income and increase Medicare Part B and D premiums for higher-income individuals. In other action, the committee approved by voice vote AHA-supported legislation (H.R. 3120) that would remove from the HITECH Act of 2009 a requirement that the Health and Human Services Secretary make meaningful use standards for electronic health records more stringent over time.