SCHIP debate expected over physician self-referral provision
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
A provision limiting physician self-referrals, included in the House version of legislation reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), may be a sticking point when Senate and House versions of the bill need to be reconciled, physician groups are saying. The House version of the bill (H.R. 2), was approved Jan. 14 by a 289-139 vote, and the Senate version, in the form of a chairman's mark, was cleared by the Senate Finance Committee Jan. 15 by a vote of 12-7. While the $32.2 billion House measure would be paid for by an increase in tobacco taxes, the self-referral restriction in the House version also is intended to save dollars for the program. The Senate version, which funds the program at $31.5 billion, is entirely funded with tobacco taxes and does not contain the physician self-referral provision. The bill is expected to go to the Senate floor this week for a debate and vote. President-elect Barack Obama says he hopes the bill will be "one of the first measures I sign into law when I am president.