Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. WALBERG. Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment that would reiterate Congress' objection to a proposed policy change by the Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program. That would treat health care providers as Federal contractors.

In December 2010, OFCCP quietly issued directive 293 asserting that contractual arrangements under Medicare, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program will trigger OFCCP jurisdiction. This directive would reclassify a majority of hospitals in the United States as Federal contractors, subjecting hospitals in your district and mine to OFCCP's often crushing regulatory burden.

With respect to TRICARE, the agency aggressively asserted in its jurisdiction in the 2009 administrative case OFCCP v. Florida Hospital of Orlando, OFCCP argued the hospital was a Federal subcontractor by virtue of its participation as a provider in a TRICARE network of providers.

The agency took this troubling position despite the fact that the Department of Defense, which regulates TRICARE, previously included: ``It would be impossible to achieve the TRICARE mission of providing affordable health care for our Nation's Active Duty and retired military members and their families if onerous Federal contracting rules were applied to the more than 500,000 TRICARE providers in the United States.''

Unfortunately, Madam Chair, the administrative law judge in the case did not heed DOD's warning and failed to see this policy change for what it is: an expansion of government power over the health care sector. As such, Congress acted to oppose this overreach, and the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act clarified that a TRICARE network health care provider is not a Federal contractor or subcontractor.

As chairman of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, I am deeply concerned by this attempt by OFCCP to expand its jurisdiction through executive fiat. In response, I introduced the Protecting Health Care Providers from Increased Administrative Burdens Act, which would clarify that health care providers are not Federal contractors subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor's OFCCP.

Our actions on the committee in bringing attention to this issue have been successful in prompting OFCCP to place a moratorium on the policy. However, as OFCCP has previously defied Congress and the Department of Defense, I believe this amendment is necessary. Therefore, Madam Chair, I ask the House to support my amendment that would prohibit funds to be used under this act for implementing this overreach and affirmatively show the House will not support such actions by the Department of Labor and OFCCP.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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