Week in Washington is brought to you by Michael Cohen, PhD. Tune in each week to read the latest on healthcare policy and get a glimpse of what’s on the horizon.
Week in Washington
11/11/2021
Congress
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Congress officially passed the Infrastructure bill this past week. Here’s a good summary of what is in it. There were no major health care items in the infrastructure bill. Those are located in the reconciliation/Build Back Better bill.
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Timing and passage of the Build Back Better bill remains unclear. There are some indications that the House may vote on the bill next week but the Senate will likely be delayed at least until December if not next year.
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Part of the reason for the potential delay is the Senate has a number of other issues to deal with before the end of the year (debt ceiling, budget, defense authorization act) and only three weeks of scheduled session.
Inflation
- New inflation numbers were released this week. Inflation rose 6.2% in October (year over year), which is the highest rate in multiple decades. The high inflation is more broad than earlier this year and is resulting in negative real wages.
COVID
- COVID case numbers have unfortunately begun to tick, specifically in the Midwest. High COVID cases in Europe tends to be a leading predictor for US cases and may portend higher cases/hospitalizations in the coming weeks.
Previous editions:
11/04/2021: Week in Washington
10/28/2021: Week in Washington
10/21/2021: Week in Washington
10/14/2021: Week in Washington
10/07/2021: Week in Washington
09/30/2021: Week in Washington
09/23/2021: Week in Washington
09/09/2021: Week in Washington