House lawmakers are making a high-profile effort to get filibuster-proof repeals of Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood past the Senate.
But those are just the high-profile targets. Lawmakers also are taking aim at a little-known but frequently targeted billion-dollar fund for public health initiatives such as immunizations, anti-smoking efforts and screenings.
Opponents say there are no checks on the funding, with some Republicans calling it a “slush fund.”
“We’ve created a slush fund that the [health and human services] secretary can spend without any congressional oversight or approval,” said Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., at a Tuesday hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Pitts previously has sponsored legislation to repeal the fund.
Supporters counter that the fund is vital to improving America’s health.
House Republicans are employing a method called reconciliation to get bills gutting Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood past a filibuster in the Senate and to President Obama’s desk.
The process would enable the Senate to pass the measures through a simple 51-vote majority without having to garner 60 votes to break a filibuster.
Reconciliation is used to change existing laws to conform to tax and spending levels set in the federal budget, according to Senate rules. House lawmakers believe that by passing bills that focus on spending and taxes, they would qualify for a reconciliation measure.
The package of bills includes an effort to repeal the Public Health and Prevention Fund, which authorizes $2 billion in 2015 for various public health services.
A majority of the funding goes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fund public health activities such as diabetes prevention, heart disease, immunizations and smoking cessation programs.
Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee complained during a hearing Tuesday there is no oversight of how the funding is doled out.
“It has been treated like a petty cash account,” said committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich.
Republicans also complained that part of the fund has been used to promote enrollment in Obamacare.
But health advocates say that the fund is vital as many public programs are underfunded.
“This is for everybody’s health and it is a best buy,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “Public health is absolutely a best buy.”
Benjamin said there have been efforts to repeal the fund for years. He believes the fund is targeted because it is tied to Obamacare, which remains deeply unpopular among Republicans.
“I don’t think they realized how important it is to the public’s health,” he said referring to lawmakers opposing the fund. “We are perplexed as to why we don’t have more congressional support.”
Democrats balked at the continued efforts to strip the fund.
“Over the past six years, the prevention fund has provided over $5 billion to critical public health funding and rebuilds our public health infrastructure,” said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., during the hearing.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to vote on whether to advance the reconciliation package Wednesday.
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced a package on Tuesday that would strip Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates, medical device tax and “Cadillac” tax on high-cost health plans. It also would repeal a Medicare payment advisory board.
After all the reconciliation bills are out of committee, the House Budget Committee will stitch them all together and put a package on the House floor.
Even if the package gets out of the Republican-controlled Congress, it is highly unlikely that President Obama will sign it into law.
