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Congress is scrambling to avert a partial government shutdown by Friday’s funding deadline, a threat that became more pronounced after leaders failed to unveil a deal over the weekend. Top lawmakers were aiming to release their plan to avoid a shutdown on Sunday but a last-minute snafu delayed the process — forcing Congress to begin the week without a plan to keep Washington’s lights on in tow. Congress must approve the six remaining appropriations bills that fund the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Education and State, in addition to the Internal Revenue Services, general government and foreign operations. (Schnell, 3/18)

More than three weeks since a cyberattack that continues to disrupt U.S. healthcare operations, Congress is still groping for a response. But paths forward have begun to emerge as awareness of the damage slowly spreads on Capitol Hill. Many lawmakers still have no answers ... But a growing number of them are devising plans that range from holding hearings and putting pressure on federal agencies to enacting legislation. (McAuliff, 3/15)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Friday it was taking steps to allow states to speed Medicaid reimbursement payments to providers affected by the Change Healthcare cyberattack. The flexibilities allow states to submit Medicaid state plan amendments so they can make make interim payments to providers for services for which claims have not been submitted because of the outage. (DeSilva, 3/15)