Short-Term Government Funding Legislation Includes Health Policy Extenders, Drug Rebate Definition Change, DSH Policies

On September 26, 2019 the Senate approved H.R. 4378, the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019, which would fund the federal government through November 21, 2019. The House has already approved the legislation, and President Trump is expected to sign the bill. The legislation includes a number of health program funding and policy provisions, including the following:

Medicaid Drug Rebate Definitions. The bill would exclude a manufacturer's authorized generic drug price from the average manufacturer price (AMP) of its brand product. It also would remove manufacturers from the definition of "wholesaler" for Medicaid drug rebate purposes. These policies would be effective on the first day of the first fiscal quarter that begins after the date of enactment. Delay of Reductions in Medicaid DSH Allotments. The bill would delay reduction in the allotments for Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals (DSH) through November 21, 2019. In the absence of this legislation, Medicaid DSH allotments will decrease by $4 billion effective October 1, 2019, as discussed in our recent blog post. Health Program Extenders. The bill would fund through November 21, 2019 various expiring federal health programs, including: Community Health Centers; the National Health Service Corps; the Teaching...