Fierce Health Payers March 10, 2021
The House passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that temporarily boosts Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan subsidies and includes $8.5 billion for rural hospitals.
The bill, which passed in a 220-211 vote, now heads to President Joe Biden for his signature. The legislation has no changes from the one that passed the Senate last weekend, which included several changes from a version the House initially passed late last month.
The package is a mixed bag for providers, whose key priorities were excluded from the final text.
For instance, hospital groups had sought to add $35 billion to a provider relief fund to help stem losses caused by the virus. But the Senate version only included the $8.5 billion for...