According to ModernHealthcare.com, “Congressional Democrats are hoping to pass a slew of healthcare priorities later this year aimed at expanding access to coverage and making it more affordable for patients.
“There appears to be a broad agreement on the types of healthcare policies that should be in the package, like closing the Medicaid coverage gap and adding dental and vision benefits to Medicare, but details are still being ironed out by committee staff and congressional offices and nothing is certain.”
There’s no doubt Democratic lawmakers would like to do these things because they campaigned on them last year and this would be the last chance to pass them this year. Because next year is an election year it is very unlikely any significant progress would be made then.
However, because Democratic control of Congress is so narrow, especially in the Senate but also in the House, the chances of passing anything this year remain uncertain, at best. Democrats are divided in what they want to accomplish so coming up with a majority in the House has been a struggle. Without complete Democratic unity in the Senate nothing can pass there.
Republicans, so far, have been unwilling to go along with any Democratic proposals although there is still bi-partisan work going on in the Senate to try and come up with legislation to lower drug prices.
So, while we like the news that they still want to act this year, TSCL is taking a wait-and-see position.
