Federal

Dr. Michael C. Burgess Preventive Health Savings Act

Source: Congress.gov · 653 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes how the federal government analyzes the costs and savings of new health laws. Specifically, it tells budget analysts to look at whether proposed laws would save money through preventive health care (actions that keep people healthy and prevent disease). These savings estimates would be included as additional information but would not affect official budget rules or enforcement.

Who It Affects

The Director of the Congressional Budget Office (the federal agency that analyzes the cost of proposed laws). Leaders of the Senate Budget Committee and the House Budget Committee. The relevant Senate and House committees overseeing proposed health legislation.

Key Provisions

• When requested by certain committee leaders, the Director must determine whether a proposed law would reduce government spending in future years through preventive health care (Sec. 2(h)(1)). • If the Director finds that a law would save money this way, the Director must include a description and estimate of those savings in budget analyses of the proposed law (Sec. 2(h)(2)(A)). • The Director can prepare budget projections that extend beyond the normal time periods used in budget analysis when analyzing preventive health savings (Sec. 2(h)(2)(B)). • Any savings estimates produced under this law must be used only as supplementary information and cannot be used to determine whether a law meets Congressional Budget Act requirements or other budget enforcement rules (Sec. 2(h)(3)).

What Changes

Budget analysts will now have the option to estimate and report long-term savings from preventive health care in proposed laws, using two consecutive 10-year periods starting 10 years in the future. These estimates will be informational only and will not change how compliance with federal budget rules is measured.

Important Definitions

"Budgetary outyears" means two consecutive 10-year periods beginning with the first fiscal year that is 10 years after the current fiscal year. "Preventive health care" means actions focused on protecting, promoting and maintaining public health and preventing disease, disability and early death. These actions must be supported by credible and publicly available evidence from studies of populations, clinical trials, human observation studies, long-term studies, or combined analysis of multiple studies.

II 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 766 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 20, 2024 Received AN ACT To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 respecting the scoring of preventive health savings. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H766.RDS H766 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 HR 766 RDS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dr. Michael C. Bur- 2 gess Preventive Health Savings Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. SCORING OF PREVENTIVE HEALTH SAVINGS. 4 Section 202 of the Congressional Budget and Im- 5 poundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 602) is amend- 6 ed by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(h) SCORING OF PREVENTIVE HEALTH SAVINGS.— 8 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION BY THE DIRECTOR.— 9 Upon a request by the chairman and ranking minor- 10 ity member of the Committee on the Budget of the 11 Senate and chairman and ranking minority member 12 of the committee of primary jurisdiction of the Sen- 13 ate or by the chairman and ranking minority mem- 14 ber of the Committee on the Budget of the House 15 of Representatives and the chairman and ranking 16 minority member of the committee of primary juris- 17 diction of the House of Representatives, the Director 18 shall determine if proposed legislation would result 19 in net reductions in budget outlays in budgetary out- 20 years through the use of preventive health care. 21 ‘‘(2) PROJECTIONS.—If the Director determines 22 that proposed legislation would result in net reduc- 23 tions in budget outlays as described in paragraph 24 (1), the Director— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H766.RDS H766 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 HR 766 RDS ‘‘(A) shall include, in any projection pre- 1 pared by the Director on such proposed legisla- 2 tion, a description and estimate of the reduc- 3 tions in budget outlays in the budgetary out- 4 years and a description of the basis for such 5 conclusions; and 6 ‘‘(B) may prepare a budget projection that 7 includes some or all of the budgetary outyears, 8 notwithstanding the time periods for projections 9 described in subsection (e) and sections 308, 10 402, and 424. 11 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Any estimate provided by 12 the Director pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used 13 as a supplementary estimate and may not be used 14 to determine compliance with the Congressional 15 Budget Act of 1974 or any other budgetary enforce- 16 ment controls. 17 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this sub- 18 section— 19 ‘‘(A) the term ‘budgetary outyears’ means 20 the 2 consecutive 10-year periods beginning 21 with the first fiscal year that is 10 years after 22 the current fiscal year; and 23 ‘‘(B) the term ‘preventive health care’ 24 means an action that focuses on the health of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H766.RDS H766 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 HR 766 RDS the public, individuals, and defined populations 1 in order to protect, promote, and maintain 2 health and wellness and prevent disease, dis- 3 ability, and premature death, including through 4 the promotion and use of effective, innovative 5 health care interventions that are demonstrated 6 by credible and publicly available evidence from 7 epidemiological projection models, clinical trials, 8 observational studies in humans, longitudinal 9 studies, and meta-analysis.’’. 10 Passed the House of Representatives March 19, 2024. Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Jan 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H766.RDS H766 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS

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