Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden's Medicaid Push Gets Support Boost From Stimulus
NBC News: 'Changed Hearts And Minds': Biden's Funding Offer Shifts Medicaid Expansion Debate
The Medicaid expansion debate is shifting dramatically in some holdout states. Central to the change is Biden's offer of more federal dollars to states that expand for the first time. (McCausland, 3/28)
CNBC: Biden To Push Infrastructure Before Health And Family Care
President Joe Biden will separate his sprawling plan to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure into two separate pieces that he will unveil weeks apart, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday. Psaki said on Fox News Sunday that Biden will unveil the first part of his plan, focusing on items like rebuilding roads and railways, on Wednesday. The second part of Biden’s plan will include child-care and health-care reforms — aspects of what is sometimes called social infrastructure — and will be released in “in just a couple of weeks,” she said. (Higgins, 3/28)
The Wall Street Journal: Biden To Push Child-Care Spending In Next Economic Proposal
As President Biden readies a multitrillion-dollar economic package, he is looking to include investments in child- and elder-care needs that his administration sees as barriers for women in the workforce, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Biden is expected to address what he calls the “caregiving economy” as part of the economic recovery proposal he plans to start unveiling on Wednesday, alongside investments in infrastructure and the environment. (Lucey and Parti, 3/28)
NBC News: Payment Deferrals Were A Lifeline For Millions During Covid. What Happens When Those End?
The federal government's response to Covid-19 has allowed millions of Americans to defer payments on their mortgages, rent, student loans and utility bills. But as more people are vaccinated and the country sees a return to normal life on the horizon, payments on trillions of dollars of those debts could resume soon, even if debtors remain out of work or in financial distress because of the economic crisis the outbreak wrought. (Edelman, 3/27)
Daily Beast: Virtual Town Halls Change How Politicians Sell The Stimulus
Democrats are finding that selling their voters a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill isn't so difficult when it's online and their constituents already love it. (Brodey, 3/29)
CNBC: Covid Masks And Hand Sanitizer Can Get You A Tax Break, IRS Says
Americans can get a tax break this filing season for masks, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes and other personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the IRS announced Friday. The tax code lets taxpayers deduct medical costs that exceed 7.5% of their adjusted gross income each year. The IRS is counting costs incurred for PPE as a medical expense that qualifies for the tax break. (Iacurci, 3/26)
