Credit: Shutterstock
The U.S. House could soon approve spending bills that will keep funding for federal health benefits agencies about the same this year as they were in 2025.
The House Appropriations Committee increased the odds of that happening Monday, by releasing a package of bipartisan appropriations bills that includes steady funding for the U.S. Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' program management operations.
EBSA helps implement and enforce federal benefits bills, such as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
CMS is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its program management operations include the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. That's the office that runs HealthCare.gov and other Affordable Care Act public exchange programs and oversees other ACA rules and programs that affect private health coverage, including employers' group health coverage.
The new appropriations package, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 legislation, would hold EBSA funding at about $191 million for the rest of the current fiscal year and hold CMS program management funding at about $3.7 billion.
House leaders hope to bring the CAA, 2026 package to the House floor later this week.
What it means: The odds that HealthCare.gov, EBSA mental health parity enforcement activities and EBSA No Surprises Act balance billing enforcement activities will continue to move ahead along roughly the same path appear to be increasing.
The backdrop: Many parts of the federal government could suspend normal operations Jan. 30 if Congress fails to pass appropriations legislation.
Members of Congress are now trying to avert a new partial shutdown by passing the bills needed to keep the government running for the rest of fiscal year 2026, which ends Sept. 30, instead of short-term spending bills that could lead to worries about a new government shutdown threat looming in just a few weeks.
The sections of the CAA, 2026 package that would fund EBSA and CMS are small parts of a $221 billion Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 bill. Most of the funding in the package would go toward education programs, such as funding for financial aid for college students, and public health programs, such as pandemic preparedness programs and programs for people facing mental illness.
The history: The White House proposed some cuts in funding for EBSA and CMS program management activities about a year ago, when
The original Trump administration budget proposal reduced funding by 5.2%, to $181 million, and reduced funding for CMS program management activities by 5.4%, to $3.5 billion.
In July, the Senate Appropriations Committee reversed the Trump administration's cuts in EBSA and CMS and program management funding.
House Republicans are often regarded as being more focused on cutting federal spending than Republicans in the Senate are, but House Republicans appear to accept the idea of holding EBSA and CMS program management spending steady.
The House Republican leaders of the House Appropriations Committee did not mention either topic in their summary of the CAA, 2026 package.
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in a comment about the release of the CAA, 2026 package that it's a focused package of budget bills.
"Gone are the days of rushed, Christmas omnibuses," Cole said.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, also praised the package.
"This package increases funding for the National Institutes of Health, investing in research to treat and prevent diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's and ALS," DeLauro said. "I strongly support this bipartisan, bicameral funding package. I look forward to voting for it later this week."
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.