NCSD Federal Policy Update - December 23, 2011

Over the weekend, the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Appropriations process came to a close, with Congress passing the FY12 Megabus package. Very few changes were made from the package that was released publicly at the end of last week, which NCSD covered in last week’s NCSD Federal Policy Update.

The Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was funded at $154.374 million in the final bill. The Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP), which includes the HIV/STD work of the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) was funded at $788.951 million in FY12. The DHAP number includes a $10 million cut to the DASH program, for a funding level in FY12 of $29.943 million. These numbers include a 0.189% across-the-board cut to all programs within the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), bill, excluding the Pell Grant program.

You may remember that last week we also mentioned a potential 1.83% across-the-board rescissions to discretionary accounts in most fiscal 2012 spending bills to pay the cost of the disaster relief. That bill was not agreed to in the Senate, so that cut will not be implemented.

In other Congressional news, after rejecting a similar compromise earlier in the week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced on Thursday, December 22 that he has reached a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) extend the payroll tax holiday for two months while working to find a compromise that could keep the tax cut extended until the end of 2012. This package, referred to as the Tax Extenders package, will also continue unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and avert a cut in the reimbursement rate for doctors who treat Medicare patients. Since both Chambers have essentially left town for the Holidays, both the House and the Senate will pass this package by Unanimous Consent later today, unless a member in either Chamber objects and calls for a roll call vote. This compromise does not include cuts to health programs, like the Prevention and Public Health Fund, as previous versions did.

And on the Affordable Care Act front, the Supreme Court announced this week that it will hear arguments regarding to the constitutionality of the health care reform law for an “unprecedented” three days, from March 26-28, 2012. A decision is then expected by July 4 next year. In addition, please check out NCSD’s analysis of the recent HHS announcement on the implementation of the Essential Health Benefits provisions.

Please contact Stephanie Arnold Pang, NCSD's Manager, Policy and Communications with any questions or concerns: 202-715-3865, sarnold@ncsddc.org.