Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), along with co-sponsors Dean Heller (R-NV) and Ron Johnson (R-WI), released a revised version of legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) this week, often referred to as the Graham-Cassidy bill. The Senators claimed that the bill includes no “draconian cuts.” In substance, however, the Graham-Cassidy bill retains many of the components of recent failed attempts to undo the ACA.

Members of Congress are returning to Washington, DC as the summer recess winds down, putting health care policy issues back in the spotlight. Policy experts expect the fall to be busy with significant activity expected in Congress and in the administration.

This week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis that found that ending payments to insurance companies to assist low-income Marketplace enrollees with health insurance costs would increase the deficit by $194 billion over 10 years. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the federal government reimburses insurance companies for discounts on copays and deductibles the law requires insurers to give to low-income individuals.

This week, a report for the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) examines the enrollment of likely eligible Medicare beneficiaries in Medicaid programs that assist with Medicare Part B premiums and cost-sharing, known as the Medicaid Savings Programs (MSPs). Using the most recently available data (2009 and 2010), the analysis shows that participation in the MSPs remains low.

This week, the House Budget Committee approved a 2018 budget resolution that would end Medicare’s guarantee of health coverage by converting the program to a premium support system. It would cut Medicare spending by $487 billion, largely by shifting more health care costs to beneficiaries. This is in contrast to President Trump’s budget, which spares Medicare from cuts.

Today, Stacy Sanders, federal policy director of the Medicare Rights Center, testified in support of a proposed law that would increase the civil monetary penalties and criminal fines for certain types of Medicare fraud at a hearing held by the Subcommittee on Health of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The hearing focused on a number of bipartisan bills to improve Medicare, including the Medicare Civil and Criminal Penalties Update Act of 2017 (H.R. 3245).

The Trustees find that the Medicare Hospital Insurance (Part A) Trust Fund is solvent through 2029—a year longer than previously predicted—and that in 2016 the Trust Fund had a $5.4 billion surplus, with surpluses anticipated through 2022. Further, the Supplemental Medical Insurance (Part B and Part D) Trust Fund remains on firm financial footing, and last year’s warning that 2017 growth would trigger the creation of an Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) did not come to fruition.

As the President and Republicans in Congress attempt to follow through on legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and dismantle Medicaid, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a new tool that lets concerned citizens compare various replacement plans. The tool allows users to compare the impact of the bill recently passed by the House of Representatives (American Health Care Act, or AHCA); the bill currently under consideration by the Senate (Better Care Reconciliation Act or BCRA); and current law. Users can also elect to compare other proposals.

In the Health Affairs blog today, Stacy Sanders, Medicare Rights’ federal policy director, writes with Maura Caslyn of the Center for American Progress about risks that the American Health Care Act (AHCA) poses to people who rely on the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs). MSPs are Medicaid programs that help low-income older adults and people with disabilities afford their Medicare premiums and cost sharing.

This week, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky led an amendment “Sense of Congress” resolution identifying the cost of prescription drugs as a national problem and calling on the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to engage with the House of Representatives and the Senate to take administrative actions and enact legislative changes to lower the cost of prescription drugs for consumers and reduce the burden of that cost on taxpayers in a way that will balance the need to encourage innovation with the need to increase affordability. The sense-of-Congress amendment was successfully adopted during a hearing of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce marking up pending, bipartisan legislation earlier this week.