Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
SNAP To Get $3.5B Increase As More Americans Go Hungry
Axios: USDA To Increase SNAP Food Aid By 15% Through September
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday a 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through September, providing about $3.5 billion of assistance to people affected by food insecurity. The pandemic has spurred an uptick in food stamp spending. As part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, the increase in benefits will provide about $28 more per person per month or more than $100 more per month for a household of four. (Chen, 3/23)
Related Story From KHN: Need Amid Plenty: Richest US Counties Are Overwhelmed by Surge in Child Hunger
In news about economic stimulus —
The New York Times: Harris Visits Florida To Sell Stimulus Package In A Republican-Led State
Vice President Kamala Harris urged the public to receive vaccinations during a visit on Monday to Florida, a Republican-led state that has largely remained open for business despite concerns that doing so may prolong the pandemic. Ms. Harris, who in the past week has traveled the country to promote the particulars of the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, said she did not have a specific message from the administration to a state where a prominent coronavirus variant has spread, even as officials have aggressively courted tourists for an unmasked spring break season that has spiraled out of control. (Rogers, 3/22)
CNBC: 100 Million Workers May Face A Jobs-Vanishing Decade After Covid
The failure of a federal $15 minimum wage to protect its place in the Biden stimulus package will not be the only headwind for low-wage workers as advanced economies like the U.S. emerge from the Covid recession. More than 100 million low-wage workers globally will need to find a different occupation by 2030, according to a recent McKinsey & Company forecast, with the situation worse in the largest economies, and signalling a labor market shift that would replace decades during which job losses have been concentrated in the middle-income positions. (Rosenbaum, 3/22)
