Contingency plans are in place to keep key federal health programs operating during the government shutdown, but repercussions are still expected, including another mass layoff.
The government shutdown is expected to persist until at least Friday, when lawmakers return from the Yom Kippur holiday.
In that time, 32,460 employees under the Department of Health and Human Services, 41 percent of the department, will be furloughed.
Medicare and Medicaid payments are ensured until at least partially into next year. And agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are retaining the majority of their staff, though approvals for new products may be delayed as the agency pauses applications.
Agencies partially exempted from the shutdown include the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA, though many of their activities will be suspended, according to the department.
Many of the protected activities during a shutdown are ensured through the Antideficiency Act, which allows for voluntary service of federal employees in emergencies dealing with the “safety of human life or the protection of property.”
One agency, however, has planned layoffs as a result of the shutdown.
According to the CDC’s contingency plan, 1,563 of the 8,742 staffers who are furloughed are in reduction-in-force status. This comes after the agency laid off 600 employees in August.
Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries can expect lags in customer service and may see some services become limited.
“For people in traditional Medicare, access to most Medicare benefits through telehealth (aside from behavioral and mental health services) reverts to the more limited use that existed prior to the pandemic, since funding for expanded telehealth services expired on September 30,” according to the health policy nonprofit KFF.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
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