Capitol Hill Watch for Week of June 20
Both Houses of Congress remain in session this week. The House of Representatives is scheduled to be in recess again starting June 27. They will return on July 5. The Senate will be in session until July 4 and then recess for the following week. Congressional leaders usually return home during these periods. This provides ample opportunities for you to speak with them in their state and district offices or at town hall meetings. Information about your individual Senators and Representatives can be found here and here. Discussions on Capitol Hill continue to focus on fiscal issues. Vice-President Biden's working group has set a July 1 deadline to either call off negotiations or produce a long-term plan. Both sides want a plan that would set the fiscal course for the next 10 years. The major impasses center around tax/revenue increases and entitlement reform. At least three meetings of this group are scheduled to take place this week. As a reminder, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has stated that the United States will reach its current statutory debt limit around August 2nd and would begin to default on some its obligations if the debt limit is not extended. A number of hearings related to these negotiations are scheduled for this week: The Health Subcommittee of House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Dual-Eligibles: Understanding This Vulnerable Population and How to Improve Their Care" on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Information on this hearing is available here. Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of House Energy and Commerce Committee will also hold a hearing Tuesday titled "Protecting Medicare with Improvements to the Secondary Payer Regime." The hearing will take place at 2 p.m. Information on this hearing is available here. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing titled "Health Care Entitlements: The Road Forward" on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Information on this hearing is available here. For more information on these negotiations or any other information on legislative items that concern you, please contact NRHA government affairs staff.