Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Shutdown Is Latest Dose Of Misery For Federal Health Workers
The Washington Post: ‘We’re Just Beaten’: For Beleaguered Federal Workers, Shutdown Is Last Straw
President Donald Trump’s second term had already brought misery to the nation’s 2.1 million civilian federal workers: unprecedented mass layoffs, strict return-to-office requirements and more red tape regulating everything from travel to printer paper. Now, with the government shut down, 750,000 federal staffers have been furloughed and many others are working without pay, even as Trump and his top lieutenants vow to put more federal jobs on the chopping block. “When did we become the enemy?” said one National Institutes of Health employee who, like other workers interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Her husband, who retired from the NIH this year, could not answer. (Natanson, George and Kornfield, 10/4)
AP: Federal Shutdown Hurts Native Americans
Native Americans watched the shuttered government on Friday and braced for damage to health care, education, infrastructure and other services funded by Washington under treaties struck more than a century ago. Tribal nations with casinos, oil and gas leases and other independent revenue sources said they expect to sustain operations for several months. Tribes more dependent on government money were already furloughing workers. (Lee Brewer, 10/3)
The latest on the federal shutdown —
Roll Call: Senate Returns As Shutdown Continues With No Endgame In Sight
The Senate returns Monday with no signs of progress toward ending the partial government shutdown that began on Oct. 1, with President Donald Trump blaming potential layoffs on Democrats. Federal executive branch employees — including those on furlough status and working without pay — could generally receive paychecks on Friday through electronic funds transfer that should be close to normal, even for departments and agencies that lacked funds to pay them past Sept. 30, as the pay covers the pay cycle that ended on Saturday. (Lesniewski, 10/6)
NBC News: A Majority Of Trump Supporters Back Extending Obamacare Subsidies
Most of President Donald Trump’s supporters back keeping enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans, the central obstacle in ending the government shutdown, according to a new poll from the nonpartisan health policy research group KFF. It was conducted Sept. 23 through Sept. 29, just days before Congress failed to pass a funding measure to keep the government open. More than 22 million people receive the subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress extends them. (Lovelace Jr., 10/3)
The Washington Post: Democrats’ Defiance On Shutdown Shows A New, Tougher Approach To Trump
Democrats’ defiant approach to the current government shutdown reflects a party mood that has shifted dramatically as a growing number of Democrats inside and outside Washington are embracing all-out confrontation with President Donald Trump. Only a few months ago, some leading voices in the party, stunned by Trump’s broad election win, were counseling against picking unnecessary fights or appearing to reject the voters’ will. But in this shutdown battle — and a growing number of political fights around the country — it is harder to find Democrats arguing against forceful resistance. (Bendavid and Abutaleb, 10/4)
KFF Health News: GOP Falsely Ties Shutdown To Democrats’ Alleged Drive To Give All Immigrants Health Care
As the U.S. headed for a government shutdown, Republicans repeatedly accused Democrats of forcing the closure because they want to give health care access to immigrants in the U.S. illegally. “Democrats are threatening to shut down the entire government because they want to give hundreds of billions of dollars of health care benefits to illegal aliens,” Vice President JD Vance said Sept. 28 on “Fox News Sunday.” (Ramirez Uribe, 10/6)
In related news about telehealth access —
Roll Call: Doctors Cancel Telehealth Appointments As Medicare Coverage Lapses
Health care providers across the country are canceling telehealth visits with Medicare beneficiaries or warning patients they will have to pay out of pocket for appointments because Congress let coverage lapse. When government funding expired Sept. 30, so did several health care policies mostly involving payments, and among them are provisions that allowed Medicare to cover telehealth services for millions of people who are 65 and older or have disabilities. (Hellmann, 10/3)
Stat: Telehealth Companies Shifting From Access To Care To Selling Drugs
The cacti started sprouting up in subway stations. On the walls of New York City’s MTA stations and street corners in San Francisco, ads for the telehealth company Hims displayed a menagerie of spiky succulents. One had a familiar bulbous tip and a slight Tower of Pisa lean. Another drooped sadly over its terracotta pot, sharing a message: “Hard, made easy.” (Palmer, 10/6)
