Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senators Want To Increase HHS Budget By $2 Billion Next Fiscal Year
The Hill: Senate Panel Recommends $96 Billion For Health Department
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would get $96 billion under a draft funding bill released Tuesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee, an increase of $2 billion from last year. The fiscal 2021 draft spending bill funds several programs intended to prepare the country for public health threats and emergencies like COVID-19. Public health experts argue Congress has underfunded their efforts for decades. (Hellmann, 11/10)
In updates on COVID's economic toll —
The Hill: McConnell Pushing For 'Highly Targeted' COVID-19 Relief Deal
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he believes Congress needs to pass a "highly targeted" coronavirus relief deal, similar to the roughly $500 billion GOP bill that was blocked earlier this year. McConnell's comments underscore that the price tag remains the biggest hurdle for any potential deal, with a dispute regarding the size of a package looming over any hopes of clinching a deal before the end of the year. (Carney, 11/10)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Job Openings Are Rising Closer To Prepandemic Levels
The number of job openings in the U.S. has climbed since the spring and is now nearly back to the levels before the coronavirus pandemic hit the labor market, a sign of continued economic improvement despite a surge in infections and fading fiscal support. There were 10.8 million job openings posted on online sites across the U.S. so far this month, on average, up from 6 million at the low point in May, after the pandemic triggered widespread business closures and other restrictions on activity, according to data from job-search site ZipRecruiter. (Guilford, 11/10)
In updates on the Georgia runoff for U.S. Senate —
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Health Care Center Stage For Senate Runoffs
Look for the issue of health care to be at the center of the two crucial U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia on Jan. 5. That’s because of the near-crisis state of health insurance coverage in the state. An analysis of census data by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Georgia ranked 47th out of 50 states for coverage in 2019, with 13.4% of its population between ages 19 and 64, or 1.38 million working-age Georgians, uninsured. (Murphy, 11/11)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: An Early Poll Of Georgia’s Twin Senate Runoffs Shows Tight Races
A poll conducted by a Republican-leaning national firm shows neither political party with a clear advantage in the twin January runoffs that are likely to decide control of the U.S. Senate. The poll showed Kelly Loeffler at 49% of the vote compared to Democrat Raphael Warnock’s 48% showing – within the margin of error of 2.6 percentage points. About 3% were undecided. (Bluestein, 11/11)
FiveThirtyEight: Georgia’s Runoffs Will Determine Control Of The Senate. Here’s What We Know So Far.
So how did one state with fewer than five million voters throw the entire race for control of the Senate into overtime? Georgia has an unusual requirement that candidates must receive a majority of the vote to win an election, and if no one does so, the top two finishers advance to a runoff. We were expecting this to happen in Georgia’s special election for Senate, in which 20 candidates were on the ballot. ... But it also happened in Georgia’s regularly scheduled Senate election: Returns currently show Republican Sen. David Perdue at 49.7 percent of the vote and Democrat Jon Ossoff at 48.0 percent. (Rakich and Skelley, 11/11)
