Policy Corner: February 3, 2023
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
President to Deliver State of the Union February 7
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has invited President Joe Biden to deliver his State of the Union address to Congress on Feb. 7 and the President has accepted the invitation. The annual speech usually highlights the President’s priorities for the coming year, state of the economy and achievements to date. Meanwhile, the White House is to release its budget proposal for fiscal year 2024 on March 9. This is about a month later than when the annual budget recommendations are usually released. However, the $1.7 trillion fiscal 2023 omnibus spending package didn’t pass until Dec. 23, just prior to the holidays, which the federal agencies need time to review before proposing funding for the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The annual budget is anticipated by advocates to see the Administration’s proposed spending for federal programs for the upcoming fiscal year compared to the current fiscal year.
Representatives Introduce Bill to Prohibit Use of QALYs for Determining Healthcare Coverage
This week, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), and GOP Doctors Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Brad Wenstrup, D.P.M. (R-Ohio), and Rep. Michael Burgess, M.D. (R-Tex.), announced the introduction of H.R. 485, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act, which would prevent the use of Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) or similar metrics to determine health coverage. QALYs are being used by some health care systems and payers to determine whether a patient who is judged to have a ‘diminished quality of life’ should he or she receive health care coverage. The legislation would permanently ban the use of quality-adjusted life years in all publicly funded health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.
On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) held a hearing on the fentanyl crisis, the 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, and QALYs used for determining the cost effectiveness of a course of treatment that evaluates the merits of covering the costs of a drug or treatment, including rehabilitation, relative to the quantity and so-called “quality” of years that will be gained from such a course of treatment. Disability advocates believe the metric intentionally devalues treatments for individuals with disabilities, including brain injury, and those with chronic illnesses for purposes of determining whether the treatment is cost-effective enough to be paid for by the federal government.
Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Expand FMLA
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) on February 5, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), who is Ranking Member of the House Education and the Workforce, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill) introduced the Caring for All Families Act to update the definition of family to ensure a broader range of caregiving relationships are covered by FMLA’s protections. The definition of family would include a domestic partner, parent-in-law, aunt, uncle, sibling, adult child, grandparent, grandchild, son- or daughter-in-law, and other significant relationship. The legislation would guarantee that parents and other family caregivers have the ability to take time off to attend a medical appointment or school function, such as a parent-teacher conference, without risk of losing their job. A 2021 study found that 48 million people in the U.S. provide unpaid care to a friend or family member, and almost 80 percent of them report having routine expenses related to taking care of their loved ones.
H.R.789, Caring for All Families Act, is cosponsored in the House by Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa), Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). In the Senate, the Caring for All Families Act is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
Save the Date for the ACL Virtual TBI Partners Day and Watch for CBITF Awareness Day Updates
Mark your calendar for Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) virtual “Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Partners Day” scheduled for February 28, 2023, 12:00 – 4:00 pm (ET) in observance of March Brain Injury Awareness Month. ACL will feature sessions on aging, employment, the intersectionality of TBI and other medical and social issues, and peer support. There will be no cost to register for the event. Mark your calendar and watch for further information!
Meanwhile, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is working with the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force (CBITF) and stakeholders to schedule the annual March awareness day sponsored by the CBITF. As soon as a date and place are announced, BIAA will let you know.