The last day of the fiscal year and the final day to pass legislation funding the government is September 30. The House and Senate are in recess this week. The current plan is for the Senate to return on September 29, while House Republican leadership has scheduled House members to return on October 6.
On Friday, the Senate failed to advance the House-passed continuing resolution (CR). The next day, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) sent a letter demanding to meet with President Trump to negotiate in an effort to avoid a shutdown. The president has indicated that he is open to meeting, but no such meeting has been publicly announced.
Healthcare policies are key provisions in the CR proposals released by both Republicans and Democrats. The Republican-led CR would extend funding for community health centers, Medicare payment of telehealth, and other key Medicare and Medicaid programs through November 21. The Democratic CR would extend government funding until October 31, permanently extend the advanced premium tax credits, and repeal healthcare provisions of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Given the intense partisan dynamic in Congress, a government shutdown cannot be ruled out. In 2013, the government shut down for 17 days, when Republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act. During previous government shutdowns, most Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services activities and payments continued to function normally; however, it is unknown whether larger numbers of federal employees would be furloughed compared to previous shutdowns. A longer shutdown would have more significant effects.
In this week’s Healthcare Preview, Debbie Curtis and Rodney Whitlock join Erin Fuller to discuss where Congress is at in their battle to fund the government as the September 30th deadline quickly approaches, as well as an overview of last week’s highly-anticipated Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting.
