House Committee Moves Appropriations Bill Forward

Last week, the full House Appropriations Committee marked up the Labor-HHS-Education bill, which provides funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Administration for Community Living and other relevant agencies. The total allocation for HHS under this bill would be $124.2 billion, an increase of $15.6 billion above the FY 2022 enacted level, but $298 million below the President’s budget request.  

In addition to the line items for each agency, the House committee included additional recommendations for the creation of a HRSA grant-based program. The first is to include disability clinical care competency training, and secondly, a recommendation to the HHS Office of Civil Rights to recommend that hospitals create a disability ombudsperson position who is authorized to facilitate communication between healthcare providers and patients with disabilities or their proxies, and advocate on the patient’s behalf, when required, to ensure that all clinical and LTSS options and choices are made available.