Information Alert: Community First Choice Option and CLASS Act in the House of Representatives Healthcare reform bill!

Great work NCIL members! Late last night, the House of Representatives added what’s called a “Manager’s Amendment” to their healthcare reform legislation, H.R. 3692.

This amendment contains multiple provisions and will be considered with the full healthcare reform bill in the House. In the Manager’s Amendment, the Community First Choice Option (CFC) was added as the only “Sense of Congress” provision. A Sense of Congress is not legislation itself. The full language of the CFC is included in the Senate healthcare reform bill and the Sense of Congress provision sends the message that the House wants it to remain in the final bill.

The reason for the Sense of Congress instead of actual legislative language is that the bill won’t have to be rescored, so they can stick to an aggressive timetable. The fact that the CFC was included in the bill is a very important because no other amendments will be allowed.

NCIL would like to thank Representative Danny Davis (D-IL) for strong and vocal leadership, as well as Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Energy and Commerce Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (D-CA).

It is very heartening to see the CFC in bills in both chambers. The Senate is awaiting a cost estimate, but the House is looking to move now. The House bill, which is called the Affordable Healthcare for America Act of 2009, will be debated on the floor late this week. Right now, there is a very good possibility that the bill could be voted on by the entire House on Saturday, a rare day of the week for a vote.

In addition, the CLASS Act was added into H.R. 3692. There are differences between the versions in the House and Senate, but it remains in both for now, and this is a good sign that it may be part of a final healthcare bill!

NCIL will also release more information about the House H.R. 3692 this week. This is not a done deal, and more work will be needed.

If you have any questions about this alert, or about healthcare reform, please contact NCIL Policy Analyst, Jason Beloungy, at 202-207-0334 (toll-free: 1-877-252-3400), ext. 1008. Jason can also be reached by e-mail at: jason@ncil.org.