Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday moved to limit debate on a $463.5 billion fiscal year 2007 omnibus appropriations bill by "filing a cloture petition and employing a tactic known as 'filling the tree' with amendments," CongressDaily reports (Cohn, CongressDaily, 2/8). The legislation, which the House approved last month, would fund most federal agencies until Sept. 30, the end of FY 2007. The bill would increase funds for NIH by $619 million and funds for health care for veterans by $3.6 billion. In addition, the legislation would increase funds for health and education programs by $2.3 billion and funds for community health centers by $207 million. Congress last year approved two of 11 FY 2007 appropriations bills and passed a continuing resolution to fund most federal agencies at FY 2006 levels that expires on Feb. 15 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/8). Reid scheduled the cloture vote on the omnibus appropriations bill for Feb. 13. Reid, despite efforts to limit debate on the legislation, "left open the possibility that he might allow amendments, noting concerns about funding for military base closures," CQ Today reports (Higa, CQ Today, 2/8). Senate Appropriations Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee ranking member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said that the practice of filling the tree with amendments should end. The bill "leaves my subcommittee in a terrible state," Specter said. He added that the legislation would not provide adequate funds for the National Cancer Institute. Specter said, "I hope none of you ever need cancer research. But if you do, you don't want to see the cancer budget" (Higa, CQ Today, 2/7).

Leavitt Testifies on FY 2008 Budget Proposal
In other budget news, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Thursday testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the fiscal year 2008 budget proposal released on Monday by President Bush, a plan that some committee Democrats said "would weaken the nation's already fragile health care safety net and increase the number of uninsured Americans," CQ HealthBeat reports (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 2/8). The $2.9 trillion budget proposal includes more than $76 billion in Medicare savings over five years, $39.5 billion of which would result from limits on annual inflation adjustments for reimbursements to hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers. The budget proposal also includes about $26 billion in Medicaid savings -- $13 billion from legislative changes and $12.7 billion from administrative changes -- over five years (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/7). House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) said that the budget proposal would not reduce funds for Medicare Advantage plans. According to CQ HealthBeat, "when Leavitt stated that MA plans were about integrating care for Medicare beneficiaries, Stark said Leavitt had no figures to support that statement." Stark, who has said that he might seek to reduce funds for MA plans, said, "Sounds like the for-profit plans have made huge political contributions and those are getting to you." Several committee Democrats also criticized a provision in the budget proposal that would provide a $7,500 tax deduction for single health insurance policies and $15,000 for family policies. Leavitt said that the provision would help more U.S. residents obtain health insurance because the tax deduction would apply to both employer-sponsored and individual health insurance policies. However, Democratic lawmakers said that the provision could damage the employer-sponsored insurance system and largely would benefit higher-income residents (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 2/8).

Advertising Campaign
On Wednesday, the Coalition to Protect America's Health Care -- a coalition of businesses, hospitals and hospital groups -- launched a $1 million advertising campaign that highlights "hospitals' role in caring for America's most vulnerable patients" and criticizes reductions in Medicare hospital reimbursements included in the budget proposal. Print ads began to appear in newspapers on Wednesday, and television and radio ads will begin to air on Feb. 12. The coalition in a statement said, "The nation's hospitals provide an important safety net for much-needed health care upon which these citizens depend, and the administration's fiscal year '08 budget proposal could put at risk hospitals' ability to provide these important health care services to all patients" (CQ HealthBeat, 2/8).