House adopts $3.5 trillion budget resolution

The House yesterday approved by a vote of 220-212 a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which included reconciliation instructions to provide the majority party with the means to pass a comprehensive reconciliation package with just 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the usual 60-vote hurdle. As part of an agreement to pass the budget, the House is also expected to take action on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure legislation on Sept. 27.  
 
The House and Senate majorities can now proceed with the budget reconciliation process. Among the Democrats’ planned expenditures are subsidized child care, expanded Medicare benefits, and paid family and medical leave. With respect to health care, the resolution’s assumptions include action on the following health care initiatives: a continuation of expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies; filling the “Medicaid coverage gap”; addressing health care provider shortages through action on Graduate Medical Education; an expansion of Medicare to cover hearing, dental and vision benefits; home health care benefits for seniors and persons with disabilities; addressing inequities in health care; reducing prescription drug costs; and certain workforce investments, including the National Health Service Corps, Nurse Corps, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education.