News
Congress Makes Last-Gasp Effort on COVID-19 Legislation and Other Must-Pass Proposals
- By: USAging
- On: 12/04/2020 13:07:26
- In: Policy & Advocacy
In the wake of skyrocketing infections and increasing deaths, lawmakers are again attempting to achieve bipartisan, bicameral agreement on another round of emergency virus relief legislation, as well as a year-long federal funding bill and an extension of key health care programs.
Collectively, this is a legislative logjam, and pushing these priorities forward by the time that both chambers break for the holidays will be a huge lift. n4a sent a letter to congressional leaders urging any COVID-19 response bill to include, at a minimum, the $925 million that was part of the House-passed HEROES 2.0 bill. The letter also urged lawmakers to ensure that a full-year FY 2021 funding bill include increases for OAA and other important aging programs, as well as long-term funding for the Medicaid Money Follows the Person (MFP) program and outreach and enrollment assistance programs for low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
The current bipartisan proposal for coronavirus relief is an outline of just more than $900 billion, but as of Thursday specific details were still under wraps. Congressional appropriators are still working on longer-term funding agreements, but at this point we expect that lawmakers may try to roll all must-pass priorities into one massive bill. Stay tuned to n4a for more details, and continue advocating with federal legislators on key aging funding priorities.