Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare-Related Curve Ball Could Complicate Budget Negotiations
Two Senate Republicans with heartburn over the cost of a recent Medicare overhaul are hoping a final GOP budget will find offsets — throwing another curveball into budget negotiations that have already blown a week past the original deadline. (Bade, 4/21)
House Speaker John Boehner pecked Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on the cheek. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy conferred amiably with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. Republicans and White House officials slapped each other on the back. (4/21)
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) unveiled legislation on Tuesday that would allow people to temporarily keep their ObamaCare plans if the Supreme Court guts the law's subsidies. Johnson’s bill is the latest Republican effort to put forward contingency plans for the possibility that the high court could strike down subsidies that help 7.5 million people afford health insurance. (Sullivan, 4/21)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald criticized the House military construction and veterans’ affairs fiscal 2016 spending bill, which would provide $1.4 billion less to the agency than President Barack Obama's request. (Adams, 4/21)
