New Congress Starts with a Bang: Obama Hits Setbacks Earlier Than Expected
NAAOP
Description
Collection
Title:
New Congress Starts with a Bang: Obama Hits Setbacks Earlier Than Expected
Creator:
NAAOP
Date:
2/6/2009
Text:
New Congress Starts with a Bang: Obama Hits Setbacks Earlier Than Expected
New Congresses, coupled with a new Administration, usually take the first
three months of the year or more to begin work in earnest, but this year is
different. Already, Congress has passed a major reauthorization of the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a bill that will lead to
millions of uninsured children receiving health care coverage. The SCHIP
program covers children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid
but not enough to afford family coverage. In this new group of covered
children, there will undoubtedly be a significant number of kids who require
orthotic and prosthetic care. This $35 billion expansion in coverage over
the next five years is being viewed as a down payment on health care
reform. The bill was signed February 4th in a White House signing ceremony.
Also consuming Congress' agenda is the Economic Stimulus Package, a massive
spending bill that is designed to jumpstart our nation's economy through a
combination of tax cuts and spending on everything from roads and bridges to
green energy technologies. Included in this massive bill is nearly $200
billion in health care spending including some programs that will have an
indirect impact on the O&P profession. For instance, the bill spends $87
billion on Medicaid to help states cope with rising Medicaid costs, $20
billion for health information technology to stimulate the move to
electronic medical records, over $6 billion for NIH research (of which O&P
research and development should get its fair share), $500 million for
vocational rehabilitation which serves as the payor of orthotics and
prosthetics on occasion if these devices will help the individual find and
hold a job, and a variety of other health care programs.
However, some of this funding is under fire by moderate Republicans and
moderate Democrats who believe the overall pricetag of the bill is too
high-at last count, the Senate bill exceeded $900 billion dollars, much of
which would not reach the economy in time to be considered a stimulus of
economic activity. A major trimming of this spending package would be a
setback to President Obama, although passage of an overall bill would
ultimately accrue to his political benefit. Obama suffered a major loss in
momentum in early February with the withdrawl of HHS Secretary-designate Tom
Daschle, a former Majority Leader of the Senate and an expert on health
system reform. His replacement will take several weeks, if not months, to
appoint and will lead to a lack of leadership on health care policy at a
time when there is extensive and intense interest in national health care
reform.
NAAOP is also busy preparing and lining up support for a number of pieces of
legislative specific to the O&P profession that will be the subject of
future updates.
Written by Peter W. Thomas, General Counsel, NAAOP
www.naaop.org
New Congresses, coupled with a new Administration, usually take the first
three months of the year or more to begin work in earnest, but this year is
different. Already, Congress has passed a major reauthorization of the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a bill that will lead to
millions of uninsured children receiving health care coverage. The SCHIP
program covers children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid
but not enough to afford family coverage. In this new group of covered
children, there will undoubtedly be a significant number of kids who require
orthotic and prosthetic care. This $35 billion expansion in coverage over
the next five years is being viewed as a down payment on health care
reform. The bill was signed February 4th in a White House signing ceremony.
Also consuming Congress' agenda is the Economic Stimulus Package, a massive
spending bill that is designed to jumpstart our nation's economy through a
combination of tax cuts and spending on everything from roads and bridges to
green energy technologies. Included in this massive bill is nearly $200
billion in health care spending including some programs that will have an
indirect impact on the O&P profession. For instance, the bill spends $87
billion on Medicaid to help states cope with rising Medicaid costs, $20
billion for health information technology to stimulate the move to
electronic medical records, over $6 billion for NIH research (of which O&P
research and development should get its fair share), $500 million for
vocational rehabilitation which serves as the payor of orthotics and
prosthetics on occasion if these devices will help the individual find and
hold a job, and a variety of other health care programs.
However, some of this funding is under fire by moderate Republicans and
moderate Democrats who believe the overall pricetag of the bill is too
high-at last count, the Senate bill exceeded $900 billion dollars, much of
which would not reach the economy in time to be considered a stimulus of
economic activity. A major trimming of this spending package would be a
setback to President Obama, although passage of an overall bill would
ultimately accrue to his political benefit. Obama suffered a major loss in
momentum in early February with the withdrawl of HHS Secretary-designate Tom
Daschle, a former Majority Leader of the Senate and an expert on health
system reform. His replacement will take several weeks, if not months, to
appoint and will lead to a lack of leadership on health care policy at a
time when there is extensive and intense interest in national health care
reform.
NAAOP is also busy preparing and lining up support for a number of pieces of
legislative specific to the O&P profession that will be the subject of
future updates.
Written by Peter W. Thomas, General Counsel, NAAOP
www.naaop.org
Citation
NAAOP, “New Congress Starts with a Bang: Obama Hits Setbacks Earlier Than Expected,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 22, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/230064.
