| Dems fuel uproar over 'banned' CDC words Democrats in the House and Senate are demanding answers from the Trump administration after a report that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was banned from using some words and phrases in official documents. On Friday, The Washington Post reported that senior CDC officials in charge of the budget told the agency's policy analysts of a list of words they shouldn't use in documents they are preparing for next year's budget. The banned terms included "fetus," "transgender" and "science-based." Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) sent a letter to Eric Hargan, acting secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), stating that the policy "sends a clear message that the Trump Administration is yet again prioritizing ideology over science." CDC officials said there are no bans and what transpired was a misunderstanding of a routine discussion on budgeting. Read more here. Dem rips disaster package for failing to address Medicaid in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands A top Democratic lawmaker on Tuesday ripped the House's disaster funding package for failing to include any provisions helping Medicaid programs for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. "It's disgraceful that the House Republican's emergency supplemental funding package does absolutely nothing for the more than 1.6 million Americans in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that are counting on Medicaid in the wake of overwhelming devastation," said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. House Republicans are preparing to attach an $81 billion disaster aid package to a stopgap government spending bill aimed at keeping the government open past Friday. The supplemental package includes money to fund hurricane and wildfire relief efforts. Hurricane Maria caused serious damage to the health-care system in the U.S. territories, but none of the federal disaster relief money to date has been earmarked for Medicaid. The amount is nearly double the $44 billion the White House proposed last month, but still falls short of the $94 billion requested by Puerto Rico. On Monday, Rep. Nita Lowey (N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the supplemental package "is not the product of bipartisan negotiation and compromise." Lowey said the package doesn't include Democratic priorities, like addressing Puerto Rico's Medicaid shortfall. Medicaid programs in the territories are expected to exhaust current funds in early 2018 without emergency funding. Read more here. Connecticut to end children's health insurance program unless it gets money from Congress Connecticut plans to shutter its health-care program for low- and middle-income children Jan. 31 unless Congress provides new federal funding. Congress let the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) lapse on Sept. 30, to the frustration of state officials and advocates. The program provides insurance to nearly 9 million children nationwide. States, including Connecticut, have been getting by with leftover funding from the federal government. But, according to a notice on Connecticut's website, its extra funding is expected to run dry by Jan. 31. The notice details the ways Connecticut will help children get health insurance, such as through the state's ObamaCare exchange or examining if they qualify for Medicaid, while encouraging parents to schedule preventive care visits and other medical appointments and refill medications before Jan. 31. Funding CHIP is traditionally a bipartisan affair, and governors and children's advocates have continually pressed lawmakers to reauthorize the program. Democrats and Republicans haven't yet found a bipartisan way to pay for the program. Read more here. | 
沒有留言:
張貼留言