Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Massive Covid Relief Package On Verge Of Passing
CNBC: Next Covid Stimulus Package May Slash COBRA Premiums For Fired Workers
It could become more affordable for laid-off workers to keep their employer-sponsored health insurance, thanks to a provision in the Covid relief bill making its way through Congress. As part of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the government would pay for former employees to maintain health coverage from their old job through COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. (Nova, 3/9)
CNN: Biden's Covid Relief Bill Is Huge, Ambitious And About To Pass
President Joe Biden plans to use the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill expected to pass Congress on Wednesday as a platform for a generational transformation of the economy to benefit the least well-off Americans and alleviate poverty. The passage of a bill of this scale and ambition two months into any new president's term would represent a power-affirming win. The political payoff for Biden of his first legacy achievement may be even greater. (Collinson, 3/10)
The Washington Post: Biden Prepares To Mail Checks, But Other Stimulus Challenges Loom
Congress is set to give the final green light to a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package Wednesday, setting in motion another gargantuan political lift: a Washington-wide effort to administer one of the largest economic relief packages in U.S. history. Over the coming weeks, the Biden administration must send another round of one-time checks to millions of families, rethink vast portions of the U.S. tax code and dole out much-needed sums to help cash-strapped Americans, seeking to swiftly blunt an economic crisis that has left millions without jobs and falling further behind financially. (Romm, Stein and Siegel, 3/9)
Kaiser Health News: Pandemic Aid Package Includes Some Relief From High Health Plan Premiums
As President Joe Biden's pandemic relief package steams through Congress, Democrats have hitched a ride for a top health care priority: strengthening the Affordable Care Act with some of the most significant changes to insurance affordability in more than a decade. The bill would spend $34 billion to help Americans who buy insurance on the health plan marketplaces created by the ACA through 2022, when the benefits would expire. (Huetteman, 3/9)
Also —
Roll Call: Both Parties Gear Up For Midterm Battle Over COVID-19 Relief
The sweeping COVID-19 relief bill that Democrats expect to send to Joe Biden’s desk Wednesday is not only the first major legislation of the president’s term. It could also define the 2022 midterm elections, which will be a referendum on Biden’s first two years in office. (Bowman, 3/10)
The Hill: Democrats Spar Over COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy
Publicly, House Democrats are largely united behind a simple message surrounding COVID-19 vaccines: Get one as soon as you can and take whichever one is offered. Yet behind the scenes, Democratic leaders and rank-and-file members are at odds over their strategy, a disagreement rooted in growing concerns that the new, slightly less effective one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine might be sent disproportionately to vulnerable minority communities. (Wong and Lillis, 3/9)
The Hill: Teenage Suspect In Capitol Riot Ordered Released From Jail After Testing Positive For COVID-19
A teenager charged in connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has been ordered released from jail after contracting COVID-19. During a court hearing on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss granted 18-year-old Bruno Joseph Cua pre-trial release, an attorney for Cua told The Hill. Cua was granted bond, and will be released into his mother's custody on March 16. (Williams, 3/9)
