Spending Deal Punts Annual Health Policy Debates To New Year
President Joe Biden signed the bill that funds a portion of the government through January and other parts through February. The deal pushes off several funding battles over health programs that have become a regular part of the holiday landscape on Capitol Hill for the past few years.
Axios:
Christmas Minus The Tree: Health Policy Gridlocked As Congress Bolts
By punting their spending disputes past the holidays, House Republicans have put the kibosh on what's become an annual rite for health care interests: the year-end legislative grab bag sometimes known as the Christmas tree. It's the first December since 2012 without a critical funding deadline, Raymond James analyst Chris Meekins notes. (Bettelheim, 11/17)
The New York Times:
Biden Signs Spending Bill, Staving Off A Government Shutdown
President Biden signed a short-term government funding bill on Thursday, narrowly averting a government shutdown but leaving a larger spending clash for Congress early next year. The Senate gave final approval to the package late Wednesday, about 48 hours before a shutdown deadline at midnight Friday. In a two-step plan, the bill funds congressional priorities including military construction, veterans affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department through Jan. 19. Other agencies would be funded until Feb. 2. (Friedman, 11/17)
Modern Healthcare:
Community Health Center Funding Delay Sparks Anxiety
Few people enjoy witnessing a dysfunctional Congress run up against one deadline after another just to avoid shutting down the government, but if you lead a community health center, you have little choice but to watch and hope. Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown in September but at that time only extended funding until this Friday. At the same time, lawmakers failed to reauthorize multi-year funding for federally qualified health centers, granting them the same brief reprieve. (McAuliff, 11/16)
KFF Health News' 'What The Health?' Podcast:
Congress Kicks The (Budget) Can Down The Road. Again.
Congress narrowly avoided a federal government shutdown for the second time in as many months, as House Democrats provided the needed votes for new House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to avoid his first legislative catastrophe of his brief tenure. But funding the federal government won’t get any easier when the latest temporary patches expire in early 2024. It seems House Republicans have not yet accepted that they cannot accomplish the steep spending cuts they want as long as the Senate and the White House are controlled by Democrats. (11/16)
