Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Recesses With Little Movement In Debt Limit Talks
The Washington Post: Debt Ceiling Deal 'Closer' As White House, GOP Negotiate
White House aides and House Republican leaders were moving closer to a deal Thursday evening aimed at resolving the debt ceiling standoff just days before the U.S. government could run out of money, as key compromises on both sides seemed likely to pave the way for a bipartisan agreement. (Siegel, Stein, Kane and Caldwell, 5/25)
The Hill: GOP Negotiator Says White House ‘Refusing To Negotiate’ On Work Requirements
A top Republican negotiating a debt ceiling hike blasted the White House on Thursday over work requirements for social benefits programs, indicating that the thorny issue remains a sticking point as the country inches closer to a government default. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) argued the Democrats’ staunch opposition to tougher work requirements will threaten the recipients of other federal benefit programs. He characterized overall progress as “slow.” (Schnell and Lillis, 5/25)
The Hill: House Leaves Town With No Debt Ceiling Deal
House lawmakers are leaving Washington for the long holiday weekend Thursday afternoon — just one week before the Treasury Department says the U.S. is at risk of a debt default — without a deal to raise the debt ceiling. (Folley, 5/25)
Politico: House Conservatives Blanch At Leaked Details Of McCarthy-Biden Debt Talks
As details leak about an emerging bipartisan debt deal just days before a possible default, House conservatives are growing increasingly unhappy. With House GOP leadership revealing few policy specifics as talks continue, their lawmakers have sought information elsewhere. In this case, some GOP members are consulting a list — said to detail exactly where the negotiators have found common ground — that Rep. Tim Burchett shared with colleagues on the floor Thursday. The Tennessean, one of four Republicans to oppose the House GOP’s debt ceiling plan, declined to tell reporters where the list originated, but a Republican familiar with the matter said it came from leadership. (Beavers and Ferris, 5/25)
Also —
The New York Times: Hundreds Of Thousands Have Lost Medicaid Coverage Since Pandemic Protections Expired
Hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans have lost Medicaid coverage in recent weeks as part of a sprawling unwinding of a pandemic-era policy that prohibited states from removing people from the program. Early data shows that many people lost coverage for procedural reasons, such as when Medicaid recipients did not return paperwork to verify their eligibility or could not be located. The large number of terminations on procedural grounds suggests that many people may be losing their coverage even though they are still qualified for it. Many of those who have been dropped have been children. (Weiland, 5/26)
The Colorado Sun: How Medicaid Work Requirements Might Impact Colorado
As negotiations over the debt ceiling drag on in Congress, one point of contention could have major ripple impacts into Colorado. Republicans have proposed adding work requirements to Medicaid. As many as 46,000 people could lose Medicaid coverage in Colorado if the GOP-backed work requirements become law, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. That could then force Colorado officials to decide whether to spend hundreds of millions of state dollars to keep those people covered. (Ingold, 5/26)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Medicaid Renewal Process Underway As Letters Go Out To 37,000 Missourians
State welfare officials sent out more than 37,000 letters to low-income Missourians earlier this month asking them to renew their taxpayer-funded health insurance for the first time in three years. As part of a national effort, Missouri and other states began the process of weeding out people who no longer qualify for Medicaid coverage on April 1. (Erickson, 5/25)
The Washington Post: Judges Rebuke Social Security For Errors As Disability Denials Stack Up
Hurled from a road-paving machine, Michael Sheldon tumbled 50 feet down a Colorado slope and struck a mound of boulders headfirst on a summer day in 2006. After eight surgeries to his head, neck and spinal cord, his debilitating headaches, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress have made it impossible to return to his work preparing roads for new subdivisions. Yet for more than a decade, the Social Security Administration repeatedly denied Sheldon’s full claim for disability benefits that would pay him $1,415 a month. (Rein, 5/25)
