S. Con. Res. 5, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021, instructed several committees of the House of Representatives to recommend legislative changes that would increase deficits up to a specified amount over the 2021-2030 period. As part of this reconciliation process, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved legislation on February 12, 2021, with a number of provisions that would increase deficits.
The legislation would appropriate $92.2 billion for various activities related to testing for, treating, and responding to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The legislation would also make changes to the Medicaid program and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which include expanding coverage for women after the birth of their child, encouraging states that have not already done so to expand Medicaid coverage to adults made eligible by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and eliminating the limit on the rebates paid by drug manufacturers to Medicaid. Finally, the legislation would appropriate $12.8 billion for various activities related to addressing the energy, environmental, educational, and commerce-related effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
