Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Tied Hospitals' Relief To Mandate To Report Cases To Private Firm
The New York Times: Billions In Hospital Virus Aid Rested On Compliance With Private Vendor
The Trump administration tied billions of dollars in badly needed coronavirus medical funding this spring to hospitals’ cooperation with a private vendor collecting data for a new Covid-19 database that bypassed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The highly unusual demand, aimed at hospitals in coronavirus hot spots using funds passed by Congress with no preconditions, alarmed some hospital administrators and even some federal health officials. (Gay Stolberg, 8/23)
In other Trump administration news —
The Washington Post: Federal Judge Halts Betsy DeVos’s Controversial Rule Sending Federal Coronavirus Aid To Private Schools
A federal judge in Washington state temporarily blocked Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from enforcing a controversial rule that directs states to give private schools a bigger share of federal coronavirus aid than Congress had intended. In a lawsuit filed by the state, U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein on Friday issued a preliminary injunction and castigated the Education Department over the July 1 regulation about the distribution of federal funds. The money, about $13.5 billion, was included for K-12 schools in Congress’s March $2 trillion-aid package — known as the Cares Act — to mitigate economic damage from the pandemic. (Strauss, 8/23)
USA Today: Fact Check: 'Plandemic II' Alleges False Conspiracy Theory Involving CDC, NIH; Pandemic Not Planned
A new video — entitled "Plandemic II: Indoctornation" — has spread online and on Facebook since Aug. 18, proliferating a baseless conspiracy theory about the nature of the coronavirus pandemic. The 75-minute documentary is a follow-up to a similar video that went viral in May — and was removed by social media platforms for spreading misinformation. Its description claims it "tracks a three decade-long money trail that leads directly to the key players behind the COVID-19 pandemic." ( Caldera and Fauzia, 8/23)
