January 7, 2011—In a largely symbolic move, the U.S. House is widely expected next week to pass legislation to repeal last year’s health care reform law, including its expansion of the 340B drug discount program and provisions closing the “donut hole” in elderly American’s Medicare Part D drug benefits.
The vote by the Republican-controlled House will be essentially null, however, as the Democratic-controlled Senate has vowed to block the bill and President Obama has likewise vowed to veto it should it reach his desk.
Piecemeal Repeal
Republican congressional leaders have said that if wholesale repeal is not possible, they will introduce various bills to undo reform piece by piece and will also work to deny it funding. It is unclear whether reform’s 340B provisions will be targeted for repeal. The closing of the Part D donut hole, meanwhile, enjoys considerable support and was agreed to by the drug industry in negotiations over reform with the Obama administration. As of Jan. 1, Medicare began picking up half of the cost of brand-name drugs for beneficiaries who have reached the gap in Part D’s coverage.
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, announced they will begin a series of hearing late this month on reform’s positive impact on the federal budget deficit and the ways that it improves care while reducing fraud and abuse. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported this week that health reform’s complete repeal would add more than $200 billion to the deficit during the next decade.
Nearly 250 New 340B Sites Added
On Jan. 5, the administration’s top health, labor and treasury officials sent a letter to new House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) extolling reform, urging its continuation, and signaling that the administration does not intend to slow down its implementation.
Under health care reform, 599 safety-net hospitals and affiliated sites were added to the 340B program during the first round of enrollment for newly eligible providers this summer. Another248 sites were added to the rolls effective the first of this year, the vast majority of them units of rural hospitals.