Reps. Price, Baldwin urge passage of bill that would encourage State health coverage expansion proposals

Reps. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) on Wednesday at a joint event by the Brookings Institution and Heritage Foundation encouraged lawmakers to back a bill (HR 5864) that would "allow states to act as laboratories where lawmakers could test methods to reduce the number of uninsured Americans," CQ HealthBeat reports.

According to Price and Baldwin, the bill would allow lawmakers to determine which approaches to expanding health care coverage work (Barrett, CQ HealthBeat, 9/7).

The Healthcare through Creative Federalism Act - also co-sponsored by Reps. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.) and John Tierney (D-Mass.) - would establish a grant process to encourage states to develop such health coverage expansion programs.

The legislation, which would have to remain budget neutral over five years of authorization, would establish a committee operated under HHS that would include federal and state appointees to administer the grant process (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/26).

The commission would "compile a slate of proposals and submit them to Congress for expedited consideration," CQ HealthBeat reports.

The bill allows health coverage proposals to be statewide, multistate or limited to certain regions and allows states to apply for federal waivers.

The bill, which the National Governors Association helped draft, awaits consideration in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Baldwin said. Baldwin and Price said they do not expect Congress to pass the measure this year, though they plan to reintroduce it again next session (CQ HealthBeat, 9/6).