The end of summer is upon us and TWIW is back in action. Let's get to business!
|
On this day in 1977...
President
Jimmy Carter
and Panamanian Chief of Government Omar Torrijos signed the Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty.
|
|
The Latest from Congress...
|
|
On August 23rd, by a vote of 85-7, the Senate passed the
Defense and Labor-HHS-Education (LHHS) bills
. Accounting for over 60 percent of all discretionary spending, the bills currently appropriates $179.3 billion for the agencies falling under LHHS.
In contrast, House leadership has yet to bring the LHHS spending bill to the floor for a vote. However, on Tuesday, members voted to go to conference with the Senate on the two-bill package containing the Defense and LHHS spending bills.
|
|
On Wednesday, the full Farm Bill Conference Committee came together for the first time to discuss H.R. 2, the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
. The Farm Bill Conference Committee is comprised of 56 members, including
nine Senators
and
47 Representatives
. During the public meeting, each member of the Conference Committee took time to comment on their top concerns within the farm bill from both a national perspective and the perspectives of the regions and constituents they represent. A recording of the meeting can be viewed
here
.
|
|
Last month, Senator Ron Wyden, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member, introduced a bill that would create a middle-income housing tax credit (MIHTC). The bill follows the model of the successful low-income housing tax credit by giving states funds to provide tax credits to developers of new construction projects or rehabilitation efforts that provide affordable housing for middle-income individuals and families. While the bill’s main focus is middle-income individuals, it also contains a provision that encourages Congress to pass the Cantwell-Hatch “Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act”—a bill seeking to increase the number of low-income affordable housing units. As a result, this bill aims to create a comprehensive package that will increase the supply of affordable housing for low-and middle-income individuals and families.
|
|
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced a bipartisan bill to establish the “Council on Rural Community Innovation and Economic Development” to work across the administration’s departments and agencies to streamline programs aimed at supporting rural communities.
|
|
The Latest from the Administration...
|
|
Released This Morning - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
|
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services propose to amend regulations relating to the apprehension, processing, care, custody, and release of alien juveniles. Written comments and related material must be submitted by
November 6, 2018
.
Click here
for more information.
|
|
New CMS Opioid Crisis Model
|
On August 23, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Innovation Center announced a new model as part of a multi-pronged strategy to combat the nation’s opioid crisis. The Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model aims to reduce expenditures and improve the quality of care for children covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through prevention, early identification, and treatment of behavioral and physical health needs. The model will support states and local providers to address these needs through child-centered care integration across all types of child health care providers.
|
|
Oral arguments in the
Texas v. Azar
case began this Wednesday. This case was brought by state attorneys general from 20 states (led by Texas). Their argument is that since the requirement that everyone must have health insurance (the “individual mandate”) was upheld only as a tax, and that tax will be zeroed out in 2019, the individual mandate survives only as an unconstitutional command. The argument continues that the individual mandate should be invalidated, and that the rest of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) depends on it, and should therefore also be considered unlawful. Notably, this would include the health care law’s protections for preexisting conditions.
The Department of Justice has announced that they will not be defending the law. Fighting to preserve the ACA, California and 16 other states have filed their own brief.
|
|
On August 22, the Departments of Health and Human Services and Treasury completed a review of
Maryland’s Section 1332 State Innovation Waiver
application and approved it allowing Maryland to create a state reinsurance program to control premiums. According to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s
announcement
, the legislation combined with this waiver will set up a reinsurance pool to provide funding for catastrophic claims for policyholders in the individual market. CMS Administrator Seema Verma stated that the “reinsurance waiver we approved today will provide immediate help to Marylanders being priced out of coverage, and I appreciate Governor Hogan’s leadership in making Maryland the seventh state to gain approval for such a waiver.”
|
|
A final rule was published in the Federal Register on August 21 to delay implementation of the December 2016 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) final rule until October 1, 2020 (
83 FR 42225
). This rule finalizes the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) that was published on March 15, 2018 (
83 FR 11450
).
ACYF-CB-IM-18-03
announces publication of this rule and also informs title IV-E agencies of the Children’s Bureau’s intent to publish a NPRM to revise the AFCARS data points and briefly summarizes public comments received in response to the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (March 15, 2018,
83 FR 11449
).
|
|
From Our Media Partner, Governing
|
|
From Our National Collaborative
|
Check out
the latest newsletter brought to you by the National Collaborative for Integration of Health and Human Services!
|
|
Lynn Johnson ACF Confirmation
|
After a lengthy confirmation process, Lynn Johnson was
confirmed
as the Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) just before the Labor Day weekend. Formerly the Executive Director of Jefferson County Department of Human Services in Colorado, Johnson now inherits one of the largest divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
