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Dr. Anthony Fauci got into a contentious exchange with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) Thursday over whether people should wear masks if they have recovered from Covid-19 or been vaccinated against it. Paul, who says he has been infected with coronavirus and who pointedly refuses to wear a mask, attacked Fauci during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (Fox, 3/18)

“Isn’t it just theater?” the Kentucky junior senator, an ophthalmologist, asked during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. “You’ve been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show. You can’t get it again,” Paul said. “There’s virtually 0% chance you’re going to get it and you’re telling people that have had the vaccine who have immunity — you’re defying everything we know about immunity by telling people to wear masks who have been vaccinated.” In response, Fauci said, “Here we go again with the theater.” ″Can I just state for the record that masks are not theater,” Fauci said. “I totally disagree with you.” (Lovelace Jr. and Feuer, 3/18)

Fauci said that, despite the lack of reinfections thus far, we don’t have significant data in two very relevant areas: Whether people who get the vaccine or who have contracted the virus can still spread it, and whether variants of the coronavirus might override any existing immunity. He bristled at the idea that his personal use of masks was “theater.” “No it’s not,” Fauci said before suggesting, as he has previously, that the true theater was being promulgated by Paul. “Here we go again with the theater.” (Blake, 3/18)

There have been reports of 126 House and Senate members infected with or exposed to the coronavirus since last March — 70 Republicans and 56 Democrats, according to data collected by GovTrack. The data illustrates the infectiousness of the virus and its impact on some of the most powerful and connected people in the country. It does not include Republican Luke Letlow of Louisiana, who died of COVID-19 complications five days before he was to be sworn into Congress in January. (Kight, 3/18)

Sen. Tim Kaine still feels lingering effects from his bout with COVID-19 nearly a year after he contracted the novel coronavirus. “Basically when I got COVID last March I started to have this nerve-tingling sensation where, I mean, every nerve ending in my body just is doing this 24/7,” he said, making a subtle motion. He said he also currently gets random warming sensations on his skin. “About five times a day it will feel like somebody put a heating pad on a part of my body,” he said. “And then it will go away, and in 15 minutes it will be somewhere else.” (Cioffi, 3/18)

A program authorized under the $1.9 trillion stimulus to combat child poverty is at risk of early delays, as the Internal Revenue Service grapples with its massive tax backlog and recent decision to extend the tax-filing deadline until May 17. The agency’s commissioner, Charles Rettig, raised the potential for hiccups at a hearing Thursday in front of the House Ways and Means Committee — though he pledged IRS officials would “do our best” to get the highly touted coronavirus aid effort up and running by July as Congress had intended. (Romm, 3/18)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: ACA Packs More Benefits — And More Confusion

The covid relief bill signed by President Joe Biden a week ago includes billions of dollars in new health benefits for consumers. But those benefits may be hard for people to take advantage of because of the interaction with the income tax system and the lack of experts to help them navigate the system. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is shedding some health-related cases, as the Biden administration begins to reverse some of the Trump administration’s actions. The justices have already canceled planned oral arguments on a case challenging the prior approval of work requirements for some adult Medicaid recipients and soon are expected to drop a case on rules that effectively bar Planned Parenthood from participation in the federal family planning program. (3/18)

KHN: Listen: Crooked Media And KHN Deliver Diagnosis On Pandemic Relief And ACA

On this week’s episode of “America Dissected,” podcast host Dr. Abdul El-Sayed spoke with KHN correspondent Emmarie Huetteman about the pandemic aid package designed to give millions of people relief from expensive health care premiums. Huetteman, who wrote about the plan, explained it could throw a lifeline to lower- and middle-income Americans who have fallen through the cracks of the government’s eligibility requirements for Affordable Care Act assistance. (3/19)