CQ's Armstrong discusses Medicare 'trigger' bill, health IT legislation, tobacco regulation, mental health parity measure

Drew Armstrong, a health reporter for CQ HealthBeat, discusses House efforts to delay action on a Medicare "trigger" bill, health information technology legislation, an FDA tobacco regulation bill and steps toward passing mental health parity legislation in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

According to Armstrong, House Democrats put a hold on a legislative process that would have forced them to take up Medicare legislation proposed by President Bush to slow spending. A provision of the 2003 Medicare law requires the president to propose a savings measure if Medicare actuaries project that the program will pull a certain percentage of its funding from annual tax revenue. According to Armstrong, Democrats earlier this month approved Medicare legislation that reduced Medicare spending enough to meet the requirements of the trigger, but technically, the bill was not considered under the trigger law's requirements. Armstrong says lawmakers likely will have to address the trigger again next year, as Medicare costs continue to rise.

Armstrong also discusses the House Energy and Commerce Committee's approval of a bill that would create loans and grants for physicians and hospitals to purchase health IT. The bill also would require the federal government to begin establishing IT standards to ensure the technology is interoperable. However, the legislation has been held up by privacy concerns, Armstrong says.

In addition, Armstrong says several House committees have compromised on a bill that would allow FDA to regulate tobacco products and place rules on tobacco advertising but that would not ban the sale of tobacco. According to Armstrong, it is expected that smoking rates would decline dramatically if the legislation is enacted. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who sponsored the legislation, said the House could vote on the bill this week.

Lastly, Armstrong discusses congressional action on mental health parity legislation, which would require insurers to offer the same level of coverage for mental health conditions as physical conditions. The Senate Finance Committee added the mental health parity language to a larger tax package. Armstrong says lawmakers generally support both bills and the mental health parity measure should move along with the tax bill.

The complete audio version of "Health on the Hill," transcript and resources for further research are available online at kaisernetwork.org.