Senate Republican leaders considerably elevated the dimensions of a rural hospital reduction fund and rewrote controversial language freezing well being care supplier taxes in a late-night bid to maintain President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on observe for a vote Saturday afternoon.
Republican leaders elevated the dimensions of the proposed rural hospital reduction fund from $15 billion to $25 billion, with the cash to be distributed over 5 years.
However the proposal falls far in need of the $100 billion that Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a key swing vote, requested to be allotted to a well being care supplier reduction fund to assist rural hospitals, nursing houses and group well being facilities.
The $25 billion rural hospital fund would allocate $10 billion in funding in 2028, one other $10 billion in 2029, then $2 billion in 2030, one other $2 billion in 2031 and at last $1 billion in 2032.
Altogether, it could present solely a fraction of the federal Medicaid funding that states are projected to lose over the subsequent decade due to caps on using well being care supplier funds.
For instance, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has projected that North Carolina would forfeit $38.9 billion in Medicaid funding from 2026 to 2035 on account of capping the supplier tax charge.
Senate Republican leaders reduce language establishing a moratorium on new or elevated well being care supplier taxes in states that didn’t broaden Medicaid below the Inexpensive Care Act, which the parliamentarian discovered violated the Byrd Rule as a result of it didn’t produce a considerable budgetary impact, in keeping with a Republican senator briefed on the parliamentarian’s ruling.
And so they delayed the phase-in of a 0.5 share level annual discount of the cap on well being care supplier taxes in states that expanded Medicaid below the ACA by one 12 months.
As an alternative of states’ well being care supplier taxes being decreased from 6 % to five.5 % in 2027, the half-point discount within the cap in supplier taxes would go into impact in 2028.
Republicans hope the modifications in language associated to well being care supplier taxes will go muster with Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough.
MacDonough dominated on Thursday that the part of the invoice capping states’ use of well being care supplier taxes violated the Byrd Rule wouldn’t be eligible to go with a simple-majority vote below the funds reconciliation quick observe.
Republican senators briefed on the discussions with the parliamentarian mentioned she additionally objected to the timeline for decreasing the cap on well being care supplier taxes in Medicaid growth states.
GOP lawmakers mentioned they hope the parliamentarian will settle for the cap language whether it is delayed by a 12 months.
Senate Price range Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) launched the revised textual content of the Senate modification to the One Huge Stunning Invoice Act, which handed the Home on Might 22.
The Senate modification is 940 pages lengthy and cuts federal Medicaid spending considerably greater than the Home bundle.
Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) advised Republican colleagues at lunch Friday that he plans to carry a vote on continuing to the bundle noon Saturday.
If the movement to proceed to the invoice passes, that will arrange 20 hours of debate, equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, on the laws earlier than an extended sequence of modification votes often known as a vote-a-rama.
Senators would vote on ultimate passage of the invoice on the finish of the vote-a-rama.
Trump has set a deadline of July 4 for passing the invoice.
