What Will Open and Close the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services During the Next Three Months? Analysis of the Future of Federal Agency Programs
Although most major federal agencies have not announced their plans for what would stay open and closed during a potential shut down, here’s what we see could be affected and what could continue.
Another 439,000 of those would stay home without pay, the remainder are paid outside annual appropriations and wouldn’t be affected. The White House believes this would be bad for national security. The service members are paid twice a month and the next pay day is September 29th.
Military Commissaries in the U.S. and abroad – which are basically neighborhood grocery stores – will stay open for approximately 60 days into the new fiscal year without appropriations, according to the Defense Department. They warn that remote and overseas locations will only remain open after the funds run out.
Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said a lack of funding also means that there are no resources for federal agencies to continue participating in federal-state-local task forces. He said this includes those working on human trafficking investigations, to disrupt terrorist operations, and crack down on drug violations.
The USDA Food and Nutrition service is about to run out of money in just a few days, due to the government shutting down. The impact on WIC would likely be staggered because some states may have carryover funds or can use their own funds to continue program operations for different amounts of time.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has enough money to keep paying states for Medicaid and CHIP, the children’s health insurance program, for at least for three months. That’s good news for around 90 million low-income people who rely on those health insurance programs
If you get health care through the federal government or the Indian Health Service, you should not experience any interruption in your care. They would still make appointments with the doctor.
The Washington, D.C., government is dealing with a shutdown during a federal government recreation improvement law: A letter to the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland
Last week, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland asking the department to use the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to keep national parks and public lands open during a shut down. Funds from the law were used in 2018 to keep most parks open.
Visitors centers, campgrounds, research facilities, and museums could be closed for a period of time during a shutdown. This would affect events and attractions scheduled for these sites Depending on how long the shutdown persists, this could create interruptions during the Indigenous People’s/Columbus Day three-day weekend for many.
Head Start, which supports education for 3- and 4-year-olds across the country, and Meals on Wheels, which brings food to elderly people, could also get interrupted.
The Agriculture Department, which runs the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women Infants and Children (WIC) programs, is preparing for the nearly 7 million pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children who rely on WIC to lose access during a shutdown.
“I do think it gets to be really confusing for the public when they see information about a federal government shutdown and wonder what that means for various programs and services that they receive,” Franken said. “There’s a risk, and we’ve experienced this before during shutdowns, where families just sort of assumed that they can’t use their benefits or that they shouldn’t go to their appointment because services may be closed.”
Another institution still running when the money runs out? Congress. They’ll keep working without pay, including many of the staffers that keep the Capitol running.
The federal government hasn’t faced this problem since January of last year when the government went down for 35 days. As in shutdowns past, people across the country will see a pause in federal services, programming and pay.
Washington D.C.’s residents and visitors felt the impact quickly. Smithsonian facilities will remain open until money runs out. The celebrations will be hurt by the closing of the National Zoo where giant pandas reside. The “Fat Bear Week” was interrupted as well by wildlife lovers outside of D.C.
Financial problems in the early stages of Medicaid: Lesnee, the Squirrel Hill Health Center and safety-net clinics across the U.S.
Lenee was pondering the possibility that her medical home could be in some trouble from the budget stalemate. She recalls how it was before she started bringing her family here: they had to take two buses, just to see the pediatrician.
Recent changes to the Medicaid program have only added to the financial tumult: For the first time since the start of the COVID pandemic, Medicaid is requiring its low-income beneficiaries to submit paperwork and prove eligibility before re-enrolling.
“People don’t know they lost their Medicaid until they show up at a doctor’s office, or to go fill a prescription, and a lot of times, that’s going to be at a health center,” says Corallo.
Bradley Corallo is a Medicaid analyst with the nonpartisan health-policy think tank KFF. Those include patients in rural communities, those with limited-English proficiency and people who struggle with housing instability.
Susan Friedberg Kalson is CEO of Squirrel Hill Health Center in Pittsburgh and she admits that helping a lot of patients navigate Medicaid is difficult, but that some will slip through the cracks.
“We will just have to absorb those people, those costs on the thin air that we live on. Kalson says that they will make it happen because they always have. “But I really do worry that we’re going to have to scale back what we do.”
Source: Federal shutdown could disrupt patient care at safety-net clinics across U.S.
Federal shutdown could disrupt patient care at safety-net clinics across the U.S. During the longest federal government shutdown in recent history, Centerville had to take tough decisions
This kind of care coordination is common at FQHCs. Clinics tend to provide food or other assistance to patients if they’re poor because of housing instability or poverty, and they help patients get to and from appointments.
FQHCs get funding from several sources, though their second-largest revenue stream are federal grants, which are now in jeopardy. The federal and state governments funding of the Medicaid public insurance program is their largest source of support.
The longest federal government shutdown in recent U.S. history ended in January 2019, and lasted 34 full days. grant funding will be restored eventually, if another shutdown occurs.
But even a short interruption is disruptive, and during previous funding crises, safety-net clinics had to make tough choices, according to Melinda K. Abrams, the executive vice president for programs at the Commonwealth Fund.
The uncertainty could lead to FQHCs having to delay signing leases or reduce hours of operation.
Even before the current threat of a government shutdown, FQHCs have been struggling. High inflation means they’re paying more for medical supplies, and they’ve had trouble retaining staff in a competitive labor market.
Problems with another multi-site FQHC in southwestern Pennsylvania affect 40,000 patients in rural areas.
Until Congress fixes the budget impasse, Centerville will have to watch its discretionary spending, including employee salaries and benefits, according to Executive Director Barry Niccolai.
Source: Federal shutdown could disrupt patient care at safety-net clinics across U.S.
Food Assistance and Mental Health Treatment for a Patient Living in a Broken RV at a Community Center: Case Manager Leslie Hawthorne Researches Emergency Services
Hawthorne has been researching food assistance and mental health treatment for a patient who has high-risk medical diagnoses and is a complex case.
Down the hall from Malzi, case manager Leslie Hawthorne is researching emergency services for a patient who has recently become homeless and is living in a broken RV.
Malzi prescribes an inhaler and recommends a checkup to make sure his breathing doesn’t get worse this winter.
Lenee believes her preschool son has asthma like some of his siblings. Dr. Dallas Malzi is listening to the boy’s lungs.
The clinic sits on the ground floor of a mid-rise apartment building that provides subsidized housing. Late afternoons are busy with parents taking their kids to the doctor.
Northview Heights doesn’t have a grocery store, a post office, or a library — but it does have this clinic, which makes health care, at least, accessible.
North Side Christian’s patients who get care at a satellite clinic in Northview Heights would suffer a blow.