Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
GOP's 'Skinny' Relief Bill Fails In Senate, Dimming Hopes For Action Before Election
ABC News: Democrats Block Senate GOP COVID-19 Relief Proposal
Democrats roundly defeated a slimmed-down GOP proposal for COVID-19 relief Thursday, a move that almost certainly means the end of coronavirus funding efforts through Election Day. The vote was 52-47. GOP leaders were able to get at least 51 of their members to support the legislation, a reversal of political fortunes from July when about half of the conference rebelled against a $1 trillion package, but it is unclear what happens now. (Turner and Pecorin, 9/10)
The New York Times: Hopes Dim For Second Stimulus As Democrats Block Narrow GOP Plan
The proposal amounted to a fraction of the $1 trillion plan Republicans had offered in negotiations with Democrats, who in turn are demanding more than twice as much. A failure to compromise would leave millions of jobless Americans in potentially dire straits, as they exhaust traditional jobless benefits and states run out of additional funds that President Trump steered to the unemployed by executive order last month. It would also strand a wide swath of small business owners who have endured steep drops in revenue. (Cochrane and Tankersley, 9/10)
The Washington Post: Democrats Block Slimmed-Down GOP Coronavirus Relief Bill As Hopes Fade For Any More Congressional Support
House Democrats in May passed a $3.4 trillion bill that would extend some of those measures and approve a number of other initiatives, such as nearly $1 trillion for cities and states, but Republicans and the White House rejected that plan. The White House didn’t begin negotiations with Democrats over what to do next until late July, and those talks faltered as both sides dug in. (Werner, Kim and Romm, 9/10)
Modern Healthcare: GOP COVID Package Fails To Advance In The Senate
Senate Republicans' narrow bill would have protected businesses from lawsuits related to COVID-19, given states the option to extend reduced additional federal unemployment benefits, opened a second round of small-business loans, provided $16 billion for state COVID-19 testing, and set aside $31 billion for vaccine, therapeutic and diagnostic development and stockpiling. The bill would also have rescinded roughly $200 billion of unspent funds that were allocated to the Federal Reserve in prior relief legislation. (Cohrs, 9/10)
Politico: Vulnerable Dems Anxious Over Stalled Covid Talks
Moderate House Democrats are growing increasingly alarmed about stalled coronavirus relief negotiations, with vulnerable members starting to privately push Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders to take action to break the stalemate. Those anxieties — particularly among the Democrats in GOP-leaning districts known as frontliners — have spiked as lawmakers watched the standoff drag out in the Senate this week while they were stuck back home in their districts amid the pandemic. The Senate on Thursday failed to advance a “skinny” Republican coronavirus relief plan over Democratic opposition, leaving senators in both parties to declare negotiations likely on ice until after the election. (Caygle and Ferris, 9/10)
