Senate Fails To Pass Stimulus Package That Included Contraceptive Pricing Fix

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 30 Sep 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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On Friday, the House voted 264-158 to pass a $60.8 billion economic stimulus package (HR 7110), but the Senate failed to advance its version (S 3604) of the package, CQ Today reports. The 52-42 Senate vote was eight votes short of the 60 required under a unanimous-consent agreement to bring the measure to the floor. The White House threatened to veto both proposals, so prospects for the House bill are "dim," according to CQ Today.

One of the Bush administration's stated objections to the Senate package was language that would reverse a provision in the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act (PL 109-171) that created a disincentive for pharmaceutical companies to provide large discounts on some drugs to family planning clinics and university health centers (Higa, CQ Today, 9/26). As a result of the Deficit Reduction Act language, the cost of birth control at health centers has risen dramatically. The bill was supported by both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 9/26).

In a statement, the White House said the House bill "will not provide short-term stimulus or long-term growth for the economy. ... Instead, the bill would simply increase government spending including self-perpetuating entitlement spending by tens of billions of dollars. If this bill were presented to the president, he would veto the bill" (CQ Today, 9/26).

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