Senate Nears Covid Aid Deal That Chops Biden Ask By More Than Half
Senators negotiations reached "an agreement in principle" on a $10 billion covid funding package that would boost federal pandemic efforts to test, treat and vaccinate Americans. Most of the money for global vaccination efforts has been stripped from the proposal, which falls far short of the $22 billion the Biden administration says is needed.
The Washington Post:
Lawmakers Close On Covid Funding Deal That Halves White House Request
Key Senate lawmakers said Thursday they had agreed on a framework to continue funding coronavirus vaccines, antiviral treatments and other supplies for Americans, but that would drastically cut plans to help vaccinate millions of people around the world. “We’ve reached an agreement in principle on all the spending and all of the offsets,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who has led negotiations for Republicans after they balked at the need for $15 billion in new funds, and House Democrats raised concerns about a planned compromise. (Diamond and Roubein, 3/31)
Bloomberg:
U.S. Senators Near Deal On Smaller Bill To Fund Covid-19 Fight
Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the top GOP negotiator on the bill, said Thursday afternoon that there is an agreement in principle but that Republicans are awaiting a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. Romney said $1 billion in global vaccine funding could be added but only if other funding is cut to keep the total at $10 billion. The bill, he said, would be fully paid for, including by using unspent money previously allocated to aid businesses. (Wasson, Ruoff and Litvan, 3/31)
Roll Call:
Senate Close To COVID-19 Aid Deal; Global Funds In Question
The offsets negotiators agreed to include $2.2 billion from unused grant funds for venues like zoos and theaters and $2 billion in untapped assistance to the aviation and manufacturing industry, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said. His comments to reporters came after a Republican Conference lunch in which lead GOP negotiator Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah briefed his colleagues on the agreement in principle. The agreement, if it holds, would likely leave out $5 billion in foreign assistance from the $15.6 billion total congressional leaders had previously agreed to in negotiations over the fiscal 2022 omnibus funding package. The COVID-19 supplemental was stripped out of the omnibus after some Democrats objected to $7 billion in state aid that was being tapped for one of the offsets, and lawmakers have spent the past few weeks negotiating a new package of offsets. (McPherson and Weiss, 3/31)
Politico:
Senate Closes In On $10B Covid Aid Deal Despite Dem Frustrations
Some in the majority party are deeply unhappy with the compromise being negotiated with Republicans, warning that leaving out global aid will have consequences. That spells possible trouble for the package’s fate in the House. And as they left for the weekend, Senate Democrats said the fight for international vaccine money is not over. (Ferris, Everett and Scholtes, 3/31)
In related news —
USA Today:
End To COVID-19 Emergency Could Jeopardize Medicaid For Millions In US
What was initially viewed by Congress and public health experts as a temporary measure to maintain health coverage during a once-a-century pandemic has dragged on for more than two years with Medicaid sign-ups ballooning to 78.9 million as of November, the most recent figures available. Now the public health emergency is set to expire April 16. An Urban Institute report estimated up to 12.9 million Americans could lose Medicaid if the public health emergency is not extended. The end of the emergency also would ripple across other pockets of the health care industry. Federal agencies created temporary initiatives to subsidize private health insurance, improve access to telehealth, provide additional funding to hospitals and make it easier for companies that make medical devices, tests and treatments to bring their products to the market under emergency use. (Alltucker, 4/1)
KHN:
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Funding For The Next Pandemic
President Joe Biden released his budget proposal for 2023 this week, and it calls for a nearly 27% increase in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services. That includes $28 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement a preparedness program for future pandemics and $40 billion for HHS to invest in making vaccines and other medicines. Also, the FDA and the CDC authorized a second booster shot for most people 50 and older. But federal officials offered little advice to consumers about who might need that shot and when. (3/31)
