Legislation crucial to hospitals, physicians and community health centers took a major step forward Wednesday when the House passed a measure to prevent parts of the federal government from shutting down.
The bill would delay an $8 billion reduction in Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments for a year, mitigate a Medicare physician pay cut that took effect Jan. 1 and extend funding for federally qualified health centers for four years. The Senate must take up the measure by Friday to prevent a partial government shutdown and to avoid a funding gap for community health centers.
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The House cleared the measure on a 339-85 vote, with 83 members of the Republican majority and two Democrats voting against it.
The legislation comprises six of the 12 annual appropriations bill Congress is supposed to pass before the end of every fiscal year on Sept. 30. The fiscal 2024 measures have been delayed four times while Congress advanced stopgap measures. The most recent short-term spending bills became law last week, narrowly averting partial government shutdowns that would have started March 1 and March 8.
"This bill honors our commitment to our veterans, strengthens our energy security, holds agencies accountable, supports our farmers and ranchers, and makes our transportation systems safer," House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger (R-Texas) said on the floor before the vote.
The Senate is expected to pass the measure, which includes funding for the Food and Drug Administration, by Friday. But Senate rules allow any member to object to speedy consideration, which would delay the proceedings. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has appealed for cooperation from all members to avoid any obstruction.
"I will put the bills on the floor so we can pass them and fund these six departments with time to spare before Friday’s deadline," Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "It took a lot of bipartisan cooperation to reach this agreement on these six appropriations bills. Now, it will take more bipartisan cooperation to finish the job."
Congress must pass a second, more controversial set of six spending bills by March 22 to keep the rest of the government, including the Health and Human Services Department, open.
Correction: An earlier version of this article inaccurately described how many House Democrats voted for the spending bill.