Your tip sheet: House takes up hospital ‘provider fee’
Days remaining in the 2017 Legislative session: 27
The House and Senate will be back in session at 10 a.m. today. The House has several insurance bills on its calendar, including House Bill 74, which would help identify troubled insurance companies. The Senate has a couple of minor bills requested by the state Department of Agriculture, including SB 69, which would eliminate a requirement for organic companies to register annually with the state since federal law requires them to register annually with the USDA.
The House budget committee meets at 2:30 p.m. and is expected to approve a three-year extension of the fee hospitals pay so that the state can get a huge chunk of matching health care money from the federal government. The $300 million hospitals a year pays in “provider fees” brings in another $600 million from the federal government in Medicaid payments. Lawmakers need to pass the extension to give them the money to balance the budget for the state’s public health care program.
For more details on what lawmakers will be up to Wednesday, here’s the annotated committee schedule.
