House Approves Legislation to Strengthen Health Care for Veterans, Senior Citizens, and Children

“This legislation will provide for the smooth functioning of the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and 340B programs,” said Chairman Henry A. Waxman.  “Virtually all of these provisions have been passed by the House at least once before, and many of them have been passed by the Senate as well.  I hope the Senate will act quickly to pass this important, noncontroversial legislation.”

The bill is completely paid for, and includes provisions to:

• Clarify the special enrollment period for veterans who rely on Medicare Part B and TRICARE;
• Ensure that residency positions shared between teaching hospitals under an “affiliation agreement” won’t be redistributed to other hospitals;
• Ensure that eligible children’s hospitals will continued to have access to discounts for orphan drugs through the 340B program;
• Allow states to continue covering children in families with incomes under 133% of poverty through their CHIP programs rather than enrolling them in Medicaid.

Related Documents: 

Bill Text of H.R. 5172, the ‘‘Veterans’ Seniors’, and Children’s Health Technical Corrections Act of 2010’’ .