Medicaid Work Requirements Not Part Of Debt Deal; Unspent Covid Funds Are
Health measures included in the proposed debt ceiling package, agreed to in principle by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the weekend, also include work requirements for some SNAP recipients and preserve spending on veteran health care. Now both sides are working to secure enough votes to pass the deal.
Axios:
Debt Deal Claws Back COVID Relief, Spares Medicaid
Democrats beat back efforts to attach Medicaid work requirements to a debt limit deal, but the agreement reached over the weekend will claw back about $30 billion of unspent COVID relief funds and likely bring more budget austerity to federal health agencies. GOP negotiators had increasingly insisted that Medicaid work requirements needed to be part of the deal, but Democrats were aggressively against such measures. (Bettelheim, 5/30)
The New York Times:
Here’s What’s In The Debt Limit Deal
In exchange for suspending the limit, Republicans demanded a range of policy concessions from Mr. Biden. Chief among them are limits on the growth of federal discretionary spending over the next two years. Mr. Biden also agreed to some new work requirements for certain recipients of food stamps and the Temporary Aid for Needy Families program. (Tankersley and Rappeport, 5/29)
Politico:
Playbook: The Debt Ceiling Glide Path Comes Into View
Covid aid clawbacks … Nearly $30 billion in unspent relief money Congress approved during the height of the pandemic would be clawed back from dozens of programs. There are cutouts for some programs such as veterans health care and Covid-19 treatment and vaccine research. (Daniels, Bade and Lizza, 5/29)
Politico:
Debt Ceiling Agreement Claws Back About $30B In Unspent Covid Funds
It also would continue to fund veterans' health care associated with environmental hazards, such as toxic exposure to burn pits. The agreement does not contain changes to Medicaid, something that Democrats had said was essential to them. And White House officials said Sunday the deal also maintains the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug provisions — as expected. (Lim, 5/28)
Meanwhile, long-term health care impacts are discussed —
Reuters:
Republicans Speak Out Against U.S. Debt-Ceiling Deal
Republicans have argued that steep spending cuts are necessary to curb the growth of the national debt, which at $31.4 trillion is roughly equal to the annual output of the economy. Interest payments on that debt are projected to eat up a growing share of the budget in the decades to come as an aging population pushes up health and retirement costs, according to government forecasts. (5/29)
