Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Stimulus Bill's Final Push In Senate To Kick Off
The Senate will move forward as soon as Wednesday on President Joe Biden鈥檚 $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer predicting Monday that the chamber would face "some late nights" ahead this week. Democrats are racing to pass the Covid aid package into law before March 14, when boosted federal unemployment benefits expire. Given the evenly divided Senate, they are using a complex tool known as budget reconciliation process to pass the bill without the need to win GOP votes. (Levine, 3/1)
President Joe Biden is expected to huddle with Senate Democrats on Tuesday as the chamber gears up to pass the White House's top legislative priority: a major pandemic relief plan. Biden is slated to join Senate Democrats virtually during their caucus lunch Tuesday afternoon, a meeting that comes as Democrats face pressure to stick together to pass the sweeping rescue package. Biden also held a virtual meeting with a group of Senate Democrats on Monday. (Foran, 3/2)
Senate Democrats won two procedural battles Monday on a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package they hope to pass by week鈥檚 end. The chamber鈥檚 parliamentarian said funding to shore up failing union pension plans and to subsidize health insurance for jobless workers do not violate the "Byrd rule," which limits what can be considered under budget reconciliation procedures, according to Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore. (Lerman and McPherson, 3/1)
Twenty-one Republican governors and one Democrat are taking aim at a聽key component of President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief bill, arguing a proposed allocation of funds聽"punishes" states that did not fully lock down businesses聽amid the pandemic. The governors, led by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, issued a statement over the weekend聽critical of what they called a "biased"聽formula used to decide how much money in direct aid each states receives. One Democrat, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, also supported the statement. (Garrison, 3/1)
In other news from Capitol Hill 鈥
Senator Elizabeth Warren said her proposed wealth tax on households worth more than $50 million could help pay for investments in infrastructure, childcare and health reforms as part of President Joe Biden鈥檚 plan to 鈥淏uild Back Better鈥 after the coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately hit low-income families. 鈥淲e need to turn to infrastructure, childcare, pre-K, college. We need to turn to the things that create investment and opportunity going forward and to do that, a wealth tax is the best way to pay for it,鈥 Warren said. (Wasson, 3/1)
The consequences are deepening for concierge health care provider One Medical following an NPR investigation that found the company administered COVID-19 vaccinations to those with connections to leadership, as well as ineligible patients. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis is launching its own investigation into the San Francisco-based company's practices, NPR has learned. The probe has plunged the publicly traded company, whose business model depends on patients paying a $199 annual fee for VIP health care services, into damage control mode. (Mak, 3/2)