The Senate Health Committee is marking up bipartisan legislation on Thursday, but there are serious disagreements between the bill’s authors and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.) — divisions that could derail the effort.
The bill from HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) would provide a nearly $2 billion annual increase for community health centers, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars for other primary care programs in an effort to boost a shortage of health workers.
Sanders and Marshall told reporters earlier this week that the bill will be fully paid for, with about $10 billion from bills in the HELP Committee jurisdiction and “assurances” from other committees about being able to use other bills outside the HELP Committee’s jurisdiction.
“The bottom line is we have $10 billion that have agreed upon out of the HELP committee itself. It is normal and customary that you go outside to other committees,” Sanders said.
But when asked for specifics, a Democratic aide on the Finance Committee said only that committee chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) “and Sen. Sanders continue to have productive discussions on how to move their mutual health care priorities forward.”
A GOP Finance Committee aide said there have not been any discussions, nor an agreement.
Ahead of Thursday’s markup, Cassidy filed 67 amendments to be considered. He has concerns about the financing scheme for the bill, as well as what he said are insufficient protections under the Hyde Amendment that prohibits federal funds from being spent on abortions.
“We are less than two days from voting on this legislation and we still do not have a reliable explanation of how this legislation is to be paid for. This isn’t serious legislating,” Cassidy said in a statement.
“If you want to pass legislation, do something positive for patients and give them certainty, then actually do the work to find the pay fors. Don’t just put up a bill based on aspiration, throw your hands up and say somebody else will figure out how to pay for it,” Cassidy said.
