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Government Shutdown To Furlough 41,000 U.S. Health Workers

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As the U.S. government shuts down, nearly 41,000 employees in various U.S. federal health agencies will be furloughed , triggering potential delays in medical care services and payments to medical care providers, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contingency plan shows.

Congress and the Donald Trump White House Friday night were unable to agree on a short-term spending bill, putting in motion contingency plans that are expected to lead to furloughing more than 40,000 workers in various agencies under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Put another way, 50% of HHS employees would be on furlough, and 50% would be retained,” HHS'  fiscal 2018 ‘’Contingency Staffing Plan for Operations in the Absence of Enacted Annual Appropriations" says.

U.S. agencies that will be impacted by the shutdown include the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Indian Health Service.

“Contingency plans for agency operations in the absence of appropriations would lead to furloughing 40,959 staff and retaining 40,956 staff as of day two of a near-term funding hiatus,” HHS said in its contingency document, which was updated Friday.

The U.S. Senate had to pass a short-term spending bill by midnight Friday to avoid a government shutdown but Senators were unable to do so. The U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week approved a short-term funding bill. Negotiations continued Saturday.

Aside from routine funding of the government, Congress is considering longer term funding of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides healthcare coverage to 9 million children of low-income families. The fact that the program known as CHIP hasn’t already been renewed as it has ever five years since it was created in 1997 is baffling healthcare providers.

"This carries real consequences for children and families, especially those who rely on vital nutrition, housing and health care assistance, many of whose lives were affected by the last federal government shut down,” said American Academy of Pediatrics president Dr. Colleen Kraft.

 

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