Reform Update: Panel queries AHIP, Blues Association about Sebelius' fundraising

America's Health Insurance Plans is among the latest set of organizations that the House Energy and Commerce Committee is questioning in what has become an expanded probe of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' fundraising efforts to help implement the 2010 healthcare reform law.

The committee's investigation, which began earlier this month, calls on the Government Accountability Office to conduct a thorough examination of HHS' activities to solicit funds for Enroll America, a private group that works to educate Americans about enrolling in healthcare coverage. In their letter to the GAO, the Energy and Commerce leaders contend that Sebelius' activities “show an apparent disregard for constitutional principles” and could violate federal law.

On Friday, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and other leaders in his panel sent letters to AHIP, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and CareFirst Blue Cross and Blue Shield asking whether Sebelius or any member of her staff had contacted the organizations about contributions to help implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The correspondence also asks the organizations to provide all information related to any meetings held at the White House about the Affordable Care Act.

“HHS regulation of the health industry will only grow under the PPACA, including by approving health insurers to participate in the exchanges and reviewing the rates that insurance providers plan to charge,” the lawmakers wrote.

Earlier, the Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to a dozen other groups, including Aetna, Cigna Corp., Humana, Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealthcare and WellPoint. The lawmakers have given those groups until May 27 to answer their questions and supply information. AHIP, the Blues association and CareFirst, meanwhile, have until June 11. An AHIP spokesman said in an e-mail Friday that the organization is reviewing the letter.

Ahead of an anticipated summer public outreach campaign about the Affordable Care Act, Sebelius highlighted the law in her speech at the World Health Assembly in Geneva this week. In addressing the international group, Sebelius said America is now in the process of “dramatically expanding Americans' access to affordable coverage,” and that rules have been implemented to prevent insurance company abuses that, for years, have denied people access to the care they need. On May 31, the secretary is scheduled to speak at the U.S. Treasury Department for the release of the annual Social Security and Medicare trustees reports.

Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) this week introduced the Family and Retirement Health Investment Act of 2013, a bill intended to broaden health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts for Americans. In a news release, Hatch said Congress created HSAs and FSAs to help Americans pay for healthcare, and that this bill will streamline those products. Among other provisions, the bill would allow a husband and wife to make catch-up contributions to the same HSA; allow seniors enrolled in Medicare Part A to continue contributing to their HSAs; remove restrictions on using both HSA and FSA dollars to buy over-the-counter drugs; and allow HSA dollars to be used to buy low-premium health insurance and long-term-care insurance. Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) has a companion bill in the lower chamber.

Healthcare providers thinking about—or currently trying—a bundled payment model will have a chance to hear from speakers on this issue either online or in person at the Third National Bundled Payment Summit from June 10-11 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. Keynote speakers include Dr. Richard Gilfillan, director of the CMS Innovation Center, and Karen Davis, former president of the Commonwealth Fund and current director of the Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The summit is also offering scholarships to safety net providers, academics, consumer advocacy groups and health research organizations to attend.

Follow Jessica Zigmond on Twitter: @MHjzigmond