In a vote of 60 to 36, the Senate passed a $150 billion economic package to extend the payroll tax holiday, unemployment compensation, Medicare physician payment, provide for the consideration of the Keystone XL pipeline, and for other purposes. The package will extend a payroll tax holiday for 160 million workers and unemployment benefits for the rest of the year. The bill passed in the House earlier today. The legislation will now go to President Obama, awarding him a victory on a portion of the jobs bill he presented to Congress in the fall. The package will take the first significant...

On Friday, President Obama announced that the administration would compromise on the preventive services final rule. The final rule, an update to the interim final rule released in August, would have required religiously affiliated entities to cover contraceptive care without any cost-sharing requirements. The new final rules mandate that nonprofit organizations affiliated with religious institutions that do not cover contraception based on their beliefs will not have to include it in their coverage. However, health insurers that provide the policies used by those nonprofit religious affiliates, which include educational institutions, hospitals, and charities, are required to offer separate insurance policy “riders” that cover contraceptive care at no additional cost. The announcement came after many Catholic organizations and Republicans had strongly objected to the original final rule that the Department of Health and Human Services had announced on January 20th.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued an amended version of the previous Interim Final Rule on the coverage of preventive services by group health plans and health insurance issuers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The amended rule reflects recent recommendations by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) regarding particular preventive services for women that should be covered at no cost by insurance companies. Services include screening and counseling for certain sexually transmitted infections, screening for gestational diabetes, and among others, counseling and contraception to prevent unintended pregnancies. The Internal Revenue Service has also issued an amended rule that reflects the coverage of these preventive services. *** On August 3, 2011, HHS issued an amendment to the amended IFR, further clarifying the expemption of religious organizations from the contraception coverage requirement. For more information on prevention, click here.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced $750 million in funding for prevention and public health in the United States. Funded through the Prevention and Public Health Fund, this allocation contains $250 million of new money to strengthen clinical and community prevention efforts and public health infrastructure around the country. “This investment is going to build on the prevention work already under way to help make sure that we are working effectively across the federal government as well as with private groups and state and local governments to help Americans live longer, healthier lives,” Sebelius said.