Bills Passed, Introduced: Reporting & Treatment of Opioid Abuse Among Pregnant Women, Repeal of the Prevention and Public Health Fund (part of ACA)

On October 22, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, the Protecting Our Infants Act (S. 799). The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee passed the legislation on September 30 (see The Source, 10/2/15); the House passed its version of the bill on September 8 (see The Source, 9/11/15).

The bill seeks to improve reporting and treatment of opioid abuse among pregnant women and infants born addicted to opioids.

United States senior US Senator Deb Fischer, Nebraska

Congress passed its FY2016 budget (S. Con. Res. 11) in May, which instructed certain committees – the House Committees on Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means and the Senate Committees on Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions – to reduce the deficit (see The Source, 5/8/15).On October 23, the House approved, 240-189, H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Health Care Freedom Reconciliation Act. The measure, approved by the Budget Committee on October 9 (see The Source, 10/9/12), contains recommendations to cut the federal budget by an estimated $78.9 billion between FY2016 and 2025.

According to the Budget Committee report, the measure would repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund, enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148). As amended, the measure also would impose a one-year moratorium on federal payments to entities that perform abortions and whose federal and state Medicaid expenditures exceed $350 million. Funding for abortions performed in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the health and life of the mother would remain intact. The legislation also would increase funding for community health centers by $235 million.

Bills Introduced:

Employment

S. 2200—Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE)/Read the first time (10/22/15)—A bill to strengthen equal pay requirements.

Family Support

H.R. 3781—Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)/Ways and Means (10/21/15)—A bill to invest in funding prevention and family services to help keep children safe and supported at home with their families, and for other purposes.

S. Res. 292—Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (10/22/15)—A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the availability of high-quality child care for working parents should be increased.

International

S. 2194—Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)/Foreign Relations (10/22/15)—A bill to promote the use of clean cookstoves and fuels to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions.

Editor's Note: Women's Policy noted under the rubric, Did You Know?, the following: The Women's Caucus was formed on April 19, 1977, when a small group of Congresswomen sat down to talk about spousal abuse.

Courtesy of Women's Policy, Inc:
Women's Policy, Inc. (WPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose sole focus is to help ensure that the most informed decisions on key women’s issues are made by policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels.

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Bills Passed, Introduced: Reporting & Treatment of Opioid Abuse Among Pregnant Women, Repeal of the Prevention and Public Health Fund (part of ACA)

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