House Committee Bill Would Restrict Funding for State-Based Exchanges

House Republicans who supported this legislation, H.R. 1214, argue that a similar program has already been created for Congress to fund through the regular annual spending process. They note also that the president’s budget for 2012 did not request funds through this grant program to provide health care services.

Another bill, H.R. 1215, converts a program that establishes grants for personal responsibility education programs and provides $75 million for each of fiscal year, 2010 through 2014, into an authorization that requires separate funding by Congress.

Another bill would do the same thing for a provision of PPACA that authorizes HHS to award teaching health centers development grants and appropriate $230 million from 2011 through 2015.

The bills were supported by all Republicans on the committee and opposed by most Democrats.

Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the panel, says the bills were passed by the panel and sent to the House floor because “In a rush to pass the health care reform package, obvious flaws were included in the final bill.”

He says the bill’s sponsors “didn’t have time to determine the cost of a program, and blank lines in a bill turned into blank checks signed by the taxpayers.

” Today, I am pleased that the committee voted to repeal this unchecked spending power,” Upton says.