All right.

Good afternoon.

I'd like to call this meeting to order.

Today is Wednesday, May twentieth, twenty twenty-six.

The time is three or four PM.

We are in room five hundred of the John A.

Wilson building.

This is also being broadcast live on the Zoom Internet platform, as well as Cable Channel 13, and my YouTube page at CMC Henderson.

I have been joined by all of the members of the Committee on Health.

Councilmember Zachary Parker from Ward Five, Councilmember Brianna Joe from Ward 1, Councilmember Wendell Felder from Ward 7, and Councilmember Charles Allen from Ward 6.

We have a strong quorum of the committee.

Today we will consider and vote on two measures.

The first will be a nominee to the Board of Nursing, and then the second will be the FY27 Committee on Health Budget Recommendations report.

First, PR26 Death 600 nominates Brianna Jones to the Board of Nursing as a licensed nursing home administrator for a term to end July 21st, 2027.

Ms.

Jones currently serves as an administrator at Inspire Rehabilitation and Health Center.

Previously, she held administrator and assistant administrator roles at Stardard Baptist Global Care and Capital City Health and Rehabilitation Center.

She holds her Masters of Science in Aging and Health from Georgetown University and a Master's of Health Administration from the University of Maryland.

She is a Ward 5 resident.

The committee did hold a round table on this nomination on April 15th, 2026, and we discussed her experience working in long-term care and what she hopes to add to the Board of Nursing.

Members will recall that we folded in the former Board of Long-Term Care Administrators into the Board of Nursing, and so Ms.

Jones' nomination would add an addition and needed perspective to that body.

I will open the floor for any discussion.

Hearing none, I move the draft report in print for PR 26-600 in block with leave for staff to make any technical changes.

All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Great.

Let the record reflect that the ayes have it and the measure passes unanimously.

We'll now discuss the fiscal year 27 budget report and recommendations for the committee on health.

I will first provide an overview of overview of the committee's recommendations before opening up the floor for discussion.

The committee's budget report was developed after several months of hearings, testimony, and meetings and other forms of public engagement.

I want to thank each resident, advocate, organization, government official who testified before the committee.

Many of your voices were reflected in this budget report and the work that we did.

This fiscal year, the mayor's budget proposed included significant cuts to the health cluster for critical health programs, including for behavioral health services, maternal and child health, healthy food access, and more.

The committee worked diligently to identify funds to restore some of the most harmful cuts and make strategic investments to increase access to health care for our most vulnerable residents and improve health outcomes.

I'm going to summarize the changes we're proposing for each agency under the committee's purview, as well as health-related transfers to other committees.

I do encourage that the public review our full committee report available on DC Council's hearing management system at DC Council.gov backslash hearings.

First, the Department of Health Care Finance.

As the mayor highlighted in her budget presentation, the big news in the fiscal year 27 budget for the Department of Health Care Finance was that the budget proposed to maintain the alliance adult eligibility for existing beneficiaries at 138% of the federal poverty level.

It also included a $3.9 million enhancement to restore dental and vision coverage, which the committee heavily advocated for over the past year.

In addition to these restorations, the committee was able to allocate $907,300 to restore specialty services for adults on the Alliance program.

This includes hospice care, home health care, and skilled nursing services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and podiatry for up to 30 days.

Department of Health Care Finance did not submit a budget support act subtitle to reflect their FY27 alliance changes in time for the budget transmission, but they later sent the committee a draft of that subtitle, which we amended, and it is included within our committee report.

It is the DC Healthcare Alliance Amendment Act of 2026.

Unfortunately, the committee was not able to further restore eligibility for alliance, and we will recommend for the committee of the whole for further considerations and restorations.

To support residents no longer eligible for alliance coverage, the committee accepted a transfer from the committee on Public Health, excuse me, public works and operations of 800,000 to establish a one-time grant for our federally qualified health centers to serve uninsured patients.

The committee will be collaborating with Councilmember Nadeau's office on a subtitle to establish this grant in the Final Budget support act.

Thank you, Councilmember Nadeau.

To further expand health coverage, the committee provides 526,000 in recurring funds to partially fund Bill 26-463, the Judith Human Memorial Workers with Disabilities Amendment Act of 2026, which establishes a Medicaid buy-in program for district residents with disabilities.

Notably, the district and the great state of Alabama are the only two states in the United States that do not currently provide a Medicaid buy-in program.

This funding covers all non-health care costs for the legislation, including staff and software upgrades.

And I do plan to advocate for the council to fund the remaining health care cost of $782,000 in FY28 and $12.8 million over the financial plan in the committee of the whole.

This could be a game changer for a lot of residents living with disabilities here in the district.

To improve maternal health, the committee does fully fund Bill 26-356, the prenatal and postpartum remote patient monitoring clarification amendment act of 2025, which provides remote blood pressure and glucose monitoring during pregnancy and up to 12 months postpartum.

Implementing this legislation costs 1.3 million in FY27 and 4.1 million over the financial plan.

The health care finance budget eliminates, excuse me, the proposed budget from the mayor's office, eliminated $14.9 million of local dollars for direct medical education, which reimburses teaching hospitals for resident salaries and faculty supervision.

Combined with the federal match funding, this would be a $50.9 million hit to our district's teaching hospitals.

The committee believes this cut will harm district residents, but unfortunately, we were not able to restore it in committee, and we will recommend that it be restored in the committee of the whole.

Health Benefit Exchange Authority.

So in FY26, Health Benefit Exchange Authority successfully rolled out the new Healthy DC plan and enrolled $14,826 residents who were formerly Medicaid beneficiaries, between $138% to 200% of the federal poverty level.