Chuck Grassley: “allowing items within the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee to be added in conference is not something I do lightly.…”

“allowing items within the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee to be added in conference is not something I do lightly. It is critical that we follow regular order, and that committees of jurisdiction hold hearings and examine proposals before the Senate acts. This is, however, an exceptional situation. In light of the current threats to our nation, we must make these changes to make our Federal health care programs more flexible, and more responsive to patients, in times of crisis. In my view, this is important enough to make an exception to our general rule of asserting our committee's jurisdiction. Also urgent are two provisions that stabilize Medicare managed care plans, which many seniors have come to rely on. And as Senator Baucus mentioned, our staffs worked closely with the conferees' staffs to make sure that we were comfortable with the provisions that were included.”