Congress Kicks the (Budget) Can Down the Road. Again.

The Host

Julie Rovner
KFF Well being Information

@jrovner

Learn Julie’s tales.

Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Well being Information’ weekly well being coverage information podcast, “What the Well being?” A famous knowledgeable on well being coverage points, Julie is the writer of the critically praised reference guide “Well being Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.

Congress narrowly averted a federal authorities shutdown for the second time in as many months, as Home Democrats supplied the wanted votes for brand new Home Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to keep away from his first legislative disaster of his temporary tenure. However funding the federal authorities received’t get any simpler when the newest momentary patches expire in early 2024. It appears Home Republicans haven’t but accepted that they can’t accomplish the steep spending cuts they need so long as the Senate and the White Home are managed by Democrats.

In the meantime, a pair of investigations unveiled this week underscored the issue of acquiring wanted long-term look after seniors. One, from KFF Well being Information and The New York Occasions, chronicles the monetary toll on households for individuals who need assistance for actions of day by day residing. The opposite, from Stat, particulars how some insurance coverage firms are utilizing synthetic intelligence algorithms to disclaim wanted rehabilitation look after Medicare sufferers.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Faculty of Public Well being and Politico Journal, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.

Panelists

Rachel Cohrs
Stat Information

@rachelcohrs

Learn Rachel’s tales

Joanne Kenen
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Faculty of Public Well being and Politico

@JoanneKenen

Learn Joanne’s tales

Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico

@AliceOllstein

Learn Alice’s tales

Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:

• Congress handed a two-part persevering with decision this week that may forestall the federal authorities from shutting down when the present CR expires Nov. 18 at 12:01 a.m. The brand new measure extends some present spending ranges, together with funding for the FDA, by means of Jan. 19. The remainder of federal businesses, together with many of the Division of Well being and Human Providers, are prolonged to Feb. 2.
• Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has mentioned he desires to make use of the following two months to complete work on particular person appropriations payments, none of which have handed each the Home and Senate thus far. The issue: They’d deeply reduce many common federal applications. In addition they are filled with adjustments to abortion restrictions and transgender insurance policies, highlighting the cut up between the GOP caucus’ far-right wing and its extra reasonable members.
• Within the wake of abortion rights successes in passing abortion rights poll initiatives, new efforts are taking form in Ohio and Michigan amongst state lawmakers who’re arguing that when Dobbs turned this resolution again to states, it meant to the state legislatures — to not the courts or voters. Most consultants agree the strategy is unlikely to prevail. Nonetheless, it highlights persevering with efforts to alter the foundations surrounding this polarized difficulty.
• Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) — who was the one remaining Republican presidential candidate pushing for a nationwide, 15-week abortion ban — suspended his marketing campaign final week. He, together with former Vice President Mike Pence, who bowed out of the race on the finish of October, have been the sphere’s strongest anti-abortion candidates. This appears to recommend that the 15-week ban just isn’t drawing voter assist, even amongst Republicans. In the meantime, former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s front-runner by miles, continues to be prepared to play either side of the abortion debate.
• Amid rising concern about the usage of synthetic intelligence in well being care, a California class-action lawsuit expenses that UnitedHealth Group is utilizing algorithms to disclaim rehabilitation care to enrollees in its Medicare Benefit program. The swimsuit comes within the wake of an investigation by Stat into insurer necessities that case managers hew to the AI estimates of how lengthy the corporate would pay for rehabilitation care, whatever the affected person’s precise medical state of affairs.
• Greater than 10 million folks have misplaced Medicaid protection since states started reviewing eligibility earlier within the yr. Advocates for Medicaid sufferers fear that the Biden administration has not achieved sufficient to make sure that people who find themselves nonetheless eligible for this system — notably kids — should not mistakenly terminated.

Plus, for “further credit score,” the panelists recommend well being coverage tales they learn this week that they assume you must learn, too:

Julie Rovner: KFF Well being Information’ “How Lawmakers in Texas and Florida Undermine Covid Vaccination Efforts,” by Amy Maxmen.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Occasions’ “They Wished to Get Sober. They Bought a Nightmare As a substitute,” by Jack Healy.

Rachel Cohrs: Stat’s “UnitedHealth Pushed Staff to Observe an Algorithm to Lower Off Medicare Sufferers’ Rehab Care,” by Casey Ross and Bob Herman.

Joanne Kenen: ProPublica’s “Mississippi Jailed Extra Than 800 Folks Awaiting Psychiatric Remedy in a 12 months. Simply One Jail Meets State Requirements,” by Isabelle Taft, Mississippi As we speak.

Additionally talked about on this week’s episode:

KFF Well being Information’ “Dealing with Monetary Break as Prices Soar for Elder Care,” by Reed Abelson, The New York Occasions, and Jordan Rau.

JAMA Inside Medication’s “Extra Dying Charges for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic,” by Jacob Wallace, et al.

Credit

Zach Dyer
Audio producer

Stephanie Stapleton
Editor

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