Federal health officials are gearing up for their final enrollment push ahead of the Feb. 15 deadline, roughly three weeks away.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell has been focused on raising the enrollment count to 9.1 million, the administration’s goal for paid sign-ups in 2015.
{mosads}The number of people who have chosen plans or re-enrolled crossed 7 million as of Jan. 16, according to figures released by HHS this week.
While most observers expect HHS to hit its goal, it’s still a climb for Burwell and her team, who will continue to hit the airwaves and make appearances next week.
During the week, the Congressional Budget Office will release its new outlook and the Senate will be debating the Keystone pipeline. But lawmakers will also hold a number of events on healthcare issues.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will consider six public health bills during a meeting on Tuesday, nearly all of which have bipartisan support and were either authored or considered in the previous Congress.
The measures would seek to strengthen enforcement efforts against drug diversion and abuse; improve the Drug Enforcement Agency’s process for scheduling new drugs; avoid unnecessary duplication in training for emergency medical technicians who are military veterans; support rural trauma systems; fund trauma care centers; and support prescription drug monitoring programs at the state level.
The bills are expected to pass the health subpanel and advance to consideration by the full committee.
The full House will also vote Monday on a number of bipartisan suspension measures to combat human trafficking.
On the Senate side, the Budget Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss the Congressional Budget Office’s outlook for fiscal years 2015 and 2025. Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act are likely to be discussed.
Later that day, the Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing on the financial exploitation of seniors and policies to combat it.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will meet Thursday to look at employer wellness programs. Lawmakers will ask whether these initiatives effectively improve health outcomes and lower costs.
Policymakers will continue their debate over how best to reform Medicare’s flawed physician payment system with an event on Wednesday.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’s (CMS) chief medical officer will speak about the Sustainable Growth Rate during a day-long meeting on the Hill, hosted by The Brookings Institute.
Finally, consumer advocates will hold an event to highlight the impact of a potential Supreme Court ruling against ObamaCare subsidies distributed on the federal exchanges.
Organized by FamiliesUSA, the press conference will feature individuals who would be affected by such a ruling along with House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association.
Health policymakers have several events to choose from off Capitol Hill next week.
On Monday night, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) will deliver remarks at the film screening of the PBS documentary “The Genius of Marian,” a look at one family’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The federal government’s advisory committee on organ transplants will meet Wednesday to discuss major changes to the way donated livers are shared across states.
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