WASHINGTON, DC - The House of Representatives today passed H.R. 3823, the Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017, which included some short-term extensions of health policies that would expire on Sept. 30, 2017. These provisions can be found in sections 301, 302, and 303.
Section 301 includes the extension of the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical education program (three months), the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (three months), providing funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS) to award grants for the prevention and treatment of diabetes for American Indians and Alaska Natives who receive services at IHS-funded facilities.
Section 302 includes the extension of the Medicare Patient Intravenous Immunoglobin (IVIG) Access Demonstration Project (through 2020), which would otherwise stop providing services to patients after Sept. 30, 2017. The demonstration would evaluate the benefits of providing payment for items and services needed for the in-home administration of IVIG for the treatment of primary immune deficiency diseases.
Section 303 includes the Medicare Improvement Fund (MIF), which would reduce the amount of funding in the MIF available to the Department of Health and Human Services to offset the policies contained in this title.
“I’m glad we were able to include these important health care provisions in this broader bill, so we can ensure they are swiftly signed into law," said #SubHealth Chairman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX). “In the meantime, the committee remains hard at work to finalize an extension of critical funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and funding extensions for important public health programs, like community health centers. These are significant policies that families rely on every day and it’s imperative we get the policy right and signed into law quickly."
