Medical Expense Deduction
On March 4, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), Finance Committee Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, introduced the Tax Extender and Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (S. 617). The bill would extend, for an additional two years, the temporarily-reduced threshold that must be exceeded for taking the medical-expense tax deduction. In 2017, that threshold was temporarily reduced from 10% to 7.5% for 2017 and 2018. Earlier this year, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the Medical Expense Savings Act (S. 110), which would permanently set the threshold at 7.5% of adjusted gross income.
Bipartisan E&C Leaders Request Briefing on Systemic Failures at Indian Health Service Hospitals
(Energy & Commerce Committee press release, 3/7/18)
On March 7, a bipartisan group of House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders sent a letter to Indian Health Service (IHS) Acting Director Rear Admiral Michael D. Weahkee. The letter requests a briefing on reported medical errors and systemic failures at IHS hospitals, the corrective actions taken to date, and an update on the agency’s strategy to ensure improvements at IHS facilities nationwide. The request was prompted by reports of problems uncovered by investigations conducted by the Wall Street Journal and Frontline PBS, and by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
Encourage confidence to act