The new 115th Congress officially starts on January 3. Behind the scenes discussion have been on-going on using a 2017 budget resolution (left over from last year) to very quickly provide the first budget reconciliation. The process will start this week with the Senate expected to pass a budget resolution this week and the House
The new 115th Congress will come together for the first time on January 3 and is expected to get to work on a 2017 budget resolution very quickly to provide the first budget reconciliation. The new Congress will be working around the Monday, January 16, Martin Luther King holiday followed later that week by the
On December 13, the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute posted a commentary on how the repeal of the ACA could affect child welfare children and families. The piece, Top Five Threats to Child Welfare from ACA Repeal was authored by Olivia Golden, Executive Director, CLASP. Part of January will likely be dedicated to the repeal
Last week HHS issued a CMS Information Bulletin, on how states can extend Medicaid coverage to young people up to age 26 if they aged out of foster care and then later move to another state. Under the ACA young people who exited foster care have mandatory coverage under Medicaid to the age of 26.
On Monday, December 12 the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth held their last round table discussion for 2016. This week’s discussion focused on foster care and “normalcy” or attempts to make foster care placements as family like as possible for children in care. The overview was provided by Jenny Pokempner from the Juvenile Law Center
The fate of the Families First Act wasn’t decided until the very last days of session. While advocates made a final push to get the legislation included in the CR, that did not happen when that bill was published late on Tuesday night. Despite that, discussions continued until the very end. On Wednesday, Senate Finance
Two studies last week provided some numbers to what will happen if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act without a replacement. According to an analysis by the Urban Institute, if Congress repeals the ACA through the congressional reconciliation process without a replacement plan, at least 29 million people will lose their health insurance coverage. That
On Wednesday, December 7, the Senate gave final approval to HR 34 the 21st Century Cures Act by a vote of 94 to five. The bill (which had temporarily served as a vehicle for passage of the Families First Act) is a compilation of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding increases, changes in the drug
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention and Treatment Act (JJDPA), a program that seeks to prevent juvenile incarceration through prevention efforts and better and more appropriate sentencing fell short late in the week. The last time the JJDPA was reauthorized was in 2002 with the current programs operating without an authorization since 2007. In July, the
The fate of the Families First Act, in these last few days of Congress rests with a continuing resolution as the last possible vehicle for enactment. Congressional sponsors are asking advocates to weigh-in with House and Senate leadership to move the bill as part of a CR that must be passed before Congress wraps up.