WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) delivered the following opening statement during a hearing on the individual and employer mandates and associated penalties in the president's health care law. "With the successful replacement of the flawed formula for paying local doctors under Medicare nearly complete, I want to welcome… Read more

By David Crary, Associated Press April 9, 2015 Not so long ago, if foster children in Florida wanted to spend the night at a friend's house, the parents hosting the sleepover faced a criminal background check. Taking the kids on an out-of-state vacation required official permission from a state agency. "That was ridiculous," said Mike Carroll, who as head of Florida's Department… Read more

WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration's (SSA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report on the determination of disability claims from applicants who cannot communicate in English. The OIG found at least 218 cases in Puerto Rico where a disability rule was applied to the advantage of a claimant who was unable to communicate in… Read more

Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the individual and employer mandates and associated penalties in the President’s health care law. The hearing will take place immediately following a brief Subcommittee organizational meeting on Tuesday, April 14, 2015, in Room B-318 of the… Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released the following statement in response to the March jobs report: "We're still not meeting our potential. Americans are working harder than ever to get ahead, but there just isn't enough opportunity to go around. So this committee is going to redouble our efforts on the real reforms we need, like tearing down barriers… Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam (R-IL) issued the following statement on the Department of Justice’s announced civil asset forfeiture policy change. The new policy follows Roskam’s February hearing on protecting small businesses from having their bank accounts seized by federal authorities without due process. “I was pleased to see that… Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam (R-IL) issued the following statement on the Department of Justice’s announcement that it would not move forward with a criminal-contempt prosecution of Lois Lerner, the former head of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Division: "Today's announcement surprises no one. It has long been clear that this… Read more

Trade-deal doomsayers are raising a stink about one of the more mundane procedures of trade law: the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). These critics are determined to torpedo job-creating trade agreements, and they’re leaving no hyperbole behind. The way they tell it, ISDS panels are corporate shills that gut public-safety regulations and undermine U.S. sovereignty. Do they have… Read more

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives today voted to permanently fix the broken Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. The bipartisan plan fixes the long-standing problem of how doctors get paid for treating the 53 million Americans who depend on Medicare. “Congress has averted a continuation of a national health-care crisis,” said Ways and Means Health Subcommittee… Read more

WASHINGTON — Upon passage of H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) issued the following statement: "This is a firm step toward patient-centered health care. After years of manufactured crises, this bill will give doctors the certainty they need and seniors the security they deserve. We have a lot more work to do to save… Read more