WASHINGTON, D.C. – Better early detection screening for Alzheimer’s disease, greater transparency surrounding spending on Medicare, innovative efforts to improve health outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions rates through healthy meals, and important resources on pregnancy and parenting for new mothers or soon to be mothers were all included in multiple health and welfare bills approved by the Ways and Means Committee. The Committee also advanced legislation to enhance the integrity of electronic tax filing procedures and to combat China’ use of forced labor by adults and children in the mining of cobalt.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement on the Committee’s work on solutions improving the nation’s health care, tax administration, trade, and welfare policies:

“The Ways and Means Committee continues to press ahead on an agenda that will benefit American patients, parents, taxpayers, and our nation’s critical supply chains. Better access to health care screening, stronger support for new mothers, and programs aimed at curbing hospital readmissions will improve health outcomes in our country and make care more affordable. Enhanced verification of taxpayer information will help prevent fraud in our tax code while more effective trade enforcement will improve the integrity of our supply chains. These policy solutions will help move America in the direction of more effective and compassionate health and welfare services, stronger fraud protections, and trade policies that reflect our nation’s values.”

EFIN Verification Act (H.R. 10334)

• An Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) is the credential the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues to authorized e-file providers, allowing a return to be sent to the IRS.
• Stolen and hijacked EFINs are a common mechanism for refund fraud, and current statute does not require an EFIN to be verified as active and authorized before it is used to file.
• The bill prohibits the use of an unvalidated EFIN to electronically file any return or other document, requires validation to occur through the e-filing software itself, and directs the Treasury Department to establish an EFIN validation program to verify, in real time, the EFINs being used.

Read a fact sheet on the bill here.

The bill passed the Committee 40-0.

Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act (H.R. 6130)

• New blood-based screening tests for Alzheimer’s will allow beneficiaries to catch the disease before Mild Cognitive Impairment occurs.
• Currently, Medicare has no viable pathway for coverage of these innovative new screening technologies, blocking patient access to timely, life-altering care.
• The bill provides transitional Medicare coverage and reimbursement for FDA-approved blood-based Alzheimer’s screening tests for beneficiaries most impacted by early screening until a traditional coverage decision is issued with coverage expanded to all.

Read a fact sheet on the bill here.

The bill passed the Committee 40-0.

Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Program Pilot Act (H.R. 5439)

• More than two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries are overweight or obese.
  • Nearly 75% of obese beneficiaries have hypertension, 28% have type-2 diabetes.
• Medicare has the highest 30-day hospital readmission rate of any payer, with the average readmission costing more than $15,000.
  • Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions have a 30-day readmission rate of 25%, higher than the national rate of 19%.
• Studies show that improving patient nutrition through a designated medically tailored meals (MTM) program can improve health and lower costs.
  • Patients receiving MTMs had 30% fewer hospitalizations and 20% fewer emergency department visits.
  • Per-person health care costs were lowered by $3,400.
• This bill creates a 6-year Medicare pilot program for 40 hospitals to deliver MTMs for Medicare beneficiaries who live at home and have a diet-impacted disease like diabetes and heart failure after they leave the hospital.

Read a fact sheet on the bill here.

The bill passed the Committee 39-0.

Apples to Apples Comparison Act (H.R. 4093)

• 55 percent of all eligible Medicare beneficiaries are currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA).
• Because MA plan designs are materially different from Traditional Medicare (TM), it is difficult to analyze the true benefit and cost tradeoff between the programs. Congress must accurately compare how MA and FFS operate to ensure any reforms will result in seniors receiving improved care.
• The bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to publish detailed annual FFS and MA plan expenditure data online in downloadable, machine-readable formats for each calendar year, allowing full comparison of the two programs and directs MedPAC to conduct retrospective analysis comparing federal expenditures for Medicare enrollees.

Read a fact sheet on the bill here.

The bill passed the Committee 25-15.

Stop China’s Exploitation of Congolese Children and Adult Forced Labor through Cobalt Mining Act (H.R. 10346)

• Cobalt is an essential component of most lithium-ion batteries – components in smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles, and many electronic products.
• Chinese entities reportedly have ownership stakes in 15 of the 19 cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
  • 15%-30% of DRC-mined cobalt comes from artisanal and small-scale mining with an estimated 40,000 of the 255,000 miners in artisanal and small-scale mining in the DRC being children.
• Section 307 of The Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the importation of any products made with forced labor.
• The bill requires the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) to identify and address instances of forced labor in cobalt supply chains from the DRC.
• Identifies products and sectors the U.S. government should prioritize for enforcement of its Section 307 prohibition.
• Considers the risk of transshipment through third countries of downstream products containing cobalt mined by forced labor.
• Requires transparent information sharing with Congress on what actions U.S. Customs and Border Protection has taken to enforce the Section 307 prohibition.

Read a fact sheet on the bill here.

The bill passed the Committee 32-8.

Empowering Moms Act (H.R. 10356)

• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched Moms.gov as part of the Trump Administration’s agenda to support the health and well-being of mothers and families.
  • A first-of-its-kind resource directory for expecting parents, the site features information about pregnancy resource centers, nutritional guidance, access to medications through Trump Rx, mental health, and other community resources.
• The bill codifies Moms.gov, as a central clearinghouse of resources for expecting moms with information about pregnancy resource centers, adoption agencies, and other relevant public and private resources available to pregnant women near their zip code and surrounding areas.
• Promotes the life of an unborn child by prohibiting Moms.gov from including information about entities that provide abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or if the woman’s life is endangered.
• Requires HHS to maintain a national list of federal funding opportunities available to non-profit and health care entities that provide pregnancy support services.
• Establishes a grant program for states to create state-level websites to aggregate resources for expecting mothers that can be coordinated with community-based public or private entities.

Read a fact sheet on the bill here.

The bill passed the Committee 25-13.