Lawmakers face a January 30 deadline to fund most of the government or face another potential government shutdown, following last fall’s 43-day shutdown. The legislation to end the shutdown funded some agencies through this September, but funded the majority of government only through January 30. Last week, the House passed three bills to provide appropriations through the remainder of the fiscal year ending this September for certain agencies: Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, and Interior-Environment, and the Senate is expected to vote on this as early as today.
However, the vast majority of government funding remains outstanding, including for the Departments of Labor and HHS, where Argentum’s policy priorities are primarily located. The Labor-HHS appropriations bill may have potential sweeping cuts to federal workforce programs through the Employment and Training Agency, and potential cuts to HHS funding. We will be advocating against any cuts that will exacerbate current workforce challenges in the industry or that would cut access to programs currently in use by communities. Additionally, the temporary extensions of two key health care programs are due to expire again on January 30: Medicare hospital-at-home and telehealth flexibilities. Current telehealth flexibilities were put in place during the pandemic for geography, site of service, and practitioner type; without flexibilities, Medicare beneficiaries would need to be in a rural area and a medical facility to receive non-behavioral health services via Medicare telehealth.
Argentum will continue to meet with appropriators and lawmakers broadly throughout the month to prevent threatening measures from advancing in the appropriations process.