Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Many Worry Debt Default Would Affect Medicare, Medicaid Provider Payments
Modern Healthcare: How A Debt Default Could Hurt Medicare, Medicaid Payments
Hospitals and health systems hope for a resolution to the federal government’s debt ceiling standoff, warning that a failure to reach an agreement could have a catastrophic impact on provider payments. Republicans and Democrats continue to haggle over a deal to raise the $31.4 trillion national debt limit and keep the U.S. from defaulting on its agreements, potentially in early June. (Hudson and Nzanga, 5/24)
Military.Com: VA Issues New Warning That Default Could Have 'Catastrophic' Effects For Veterans
The Treasury Department pays $25 billion worth of bills for the Department of Veterans Affairs each month -- for veterans benefits, employee salaries, private health care, pharmacy costs and other programs like payments to small and veteran-owned companies that do business with the VA. A default on the debt on June 1 could put all those payments at risk -- a situation that could be "catastrophic," VA Secretary Denis McDonough said Wednesday, paraphrasing his boss, President Joe Biden. (Kime, 5/24)
The Boston Globe: McGovern Works Biden To Hold Line On Food Programs In Debt Limit Talks
The phone rang while Representative Jim McGovern was enjoying time with his family on the evening of Mother’s Day. “We have a problem,” Caitlin Hodgkins, his policy director, told him. She said President Biden had indicated to reporters that he’d consider additional work requirements on food assistance programs as part of negotiations to raise the debt limit. (Kopan, 5/24)
The New York Times: Potential Debt Ceiling Deal Would Barely Change Federal Spending Path
Yet in talks with Mr. Biden, Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his lieutenants have focused almost entirely on cutting a small corner of the budget — known as nondefense discretionary spending — that includes funding for education, environmental protection, national parks, domestic law enforcement and other areas. That budget line accounts for less than 15 percent of the $6.3 trillion the government is expected to spend this year. It is not outsized, by historical standards. It is already projected to shrink, as a share of the economy, over the next decade. And it has nothing to do with the big drivers of projected spending growth in the coming years: the safety-net programs Social Security and Medicare, which are facing increasingly large payouts as the American population ages. (Tankersley, 5/24)
In related news about military benefits —
Military Times: Vets Will See A Cost-Of-Living Boost In Benefit Checks Next Year
House lawmakers this week finalized plans to guarantee a cost-of-living boost in veterans benefits next year, sending legislation to the White House to be signed into law in coming days. The move guarantees that veterans’ support payments will keep pace with increases in Social Security checks and other federal stipends. It’s a non-controversial annual procedure for Congress, but one that needs to be finished before the end of the year to ensure that veterans benefits keep pace with inflation costs. (Shane III, 5/24)
