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The Senate parliamentarian has advised that a Medicaid provider tax overhaul central to President Donald Trump’s tax cut and spending bill does not adhere to the chamber’s procedural rules, delivering a crucial blow as Republicans rush to finish the package this week. Guidance from the parliamentarian is rarely ignored, and Republican leaders are now forced to consider difficult options. Republicans were counting on big cuts to Medicaid and other programs to offset trillions of dollars in Trump tax breaks, their top priority. Additionally, the Senate’s chief arbiter of its often complicated rules had advised against various GOP provisions barring certain immigrants from health care programs. Republicans scrambled Thursday to respond, with some calling for challenging, or firing, the nonpartisan parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, who has been on the job since 2012. Democrats said the decisions would devastate GOP plans. We have contingency plans,” said Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota. He did not say whether Friday’s votes were on track, but he insisted that were plowing forward. But Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the Republican proposals would have meant $250 billion less for the healthcare program, massive Medicaid cuts that hurt kids, seniors, Americans with disabilities, and working families. Trump wants action on the bill The outcome is a setback as Senate Republicans hoped to get votes underway by week’s end to meet Trumps Fourth of July deadline for passage. Trump is expected to host an event later Thursday in the White House East Room, joined by truck drivers, firefighters, tipped workers, ranchers, and others that the administration says will benefit from the bill as he urges Congress to pass it, according to a White House official. GOP leaders were already struggling to rally support for Medicaid changes that some senators said went too far and would have left millions without coverage. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said over 10.9 million more people would not have healthcare under the House-passed bill; Senate Republicans were proposing deeper cuts. Republican leaders are relying on the Medicaid provider tax change along with other healthcare restrictions to save billions of dollars and offset the cost of trillions of dollars in tax cuts. Those tax breaks from Trump’s first term would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, meaning a tax increase for Americans. GOP torn over Medicaid cuts Several GOP senators said cutting the Medicaid provider tax change in particular would hurt rural hospitals that depend on the money. Hospital organizations have warned that it could lead to hospital closures. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), among those fighting the change, said he had spoken to Trump late Wednesday and that the president told him to revert back to an earlier proposal from the House. I think it just confirms that we werent ready for a vote yet, said Sen. Thom Tillis, (R-NC), who also had raised concerns about the provider tax cuts. States impose the taxes as a way to help fund Medicaid, largely by boosting the reimbursements they receive from the federal government. Critics say the system is a type of laundering, but almost every state except Alaska uses it to help provide healthcare coverage. More than 80 million people in the United States use the Medicaid program, alongside the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. Republicans want to scale Medicaid back to what they say is its original mission: providing care mainly to women and children, rather than a much larger group of people. The House-passed bill would freeze the provider taxes at current levels. The Senate proposal goes deeper by reducing the tax that some states are able to impose. Tough choices ahead Senate GOP leaders can strip or revise the provisions that are in violation of the chamber’s rules. But if they move ahead, those measures could be challenged in a floor vote, requiring a 60-vote threshold to overcome objections. That would be a tall order in a Senate divided 53-47 and with Democrats unified against Trump’s bill. It’s pretty frustrating, said Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who wants even steeper reductions. But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stopped short of calls against the parliamentarian. I have no intention of overruling her, he said. To help defray lost revenues to the hospitals, one plan Republicans had been considering would have created a rural hospital fund with $15 billion as backup. Some GOP senators said that was too much; others, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, wanted at least $100 billion. The parliamentarian has worked around the clock since late last week to assess the legislation before votes that were expected as soon as Friday. Overnight Wednesday, the parliamentarian advised against GOP student loan repayment plans, and Thursday advised against provisions that would have blocked access for immigrants who are not citizens to Medicaid, Medicare, and other healthcare programs, including one that would have cut money to states that allow some migrants into Medicaid. Earlier, proposals to cut food stamps were ruled in violation of Senate rules, as was a plan to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. By Lisa Mascaro, AP congressional correspondent Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Leah Askarinam, Joey Cappelletti and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has previously made statements skeptical of vaccines, is now recommending the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for infants.On Thursday, RFK’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend clesrovimab, a new RSV antibody shot made by Merck, for infants 8 months and younger who don’t have protection from a maternal vaccine (a vaccine received in pregnancy). A broader vaccine review is underway The decision comes after the panel announced on Wednesday it would be reviewing the current childhood immunization schedule. The committee is set to vote on recommendations for the influenza vaccine, as well. The RSV shot was approved for use in infants earlier this month by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ENFLONSIA provides an important new preventive option to help protect healthy and at-risk infants born during or entering their first RSV season with the same dose regardless of weight, said Dr. Dean Y. Li, president, Merck Research Laboratories, said at the time.Li continued, We are committed to ensuring availability of ENFLONSIA in the U.S. before the start of the upcoming RSV season to help reduce the significant burden of this widespread seasonal infection on families and health care systems. According to the CDC, RSV infects nearly everyone by age 2, causing cold symptoms, and sometimes, breathing struggles. In the U.S., around 300 infant deaths are caused by RSV each year. The vote, which passed with five for the vaccine and two against, is the first decision from RFK’s committee, made up of members whom RFK handpicked after dismissing the previous panel of 17 members in its entirety. The current panel includes some vaccine skeptics. Retsef Levi, an operations management professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Vicki Pebsworth, the research director of a group focused on preventing vaccine injuries and deaths, were the two members who voted against the shot. Kennedys history of vaccine misinformation Trump’s controversial pick for HHS Secretary has frequently made false claims on the topic of vaccines. In regard to COVID, Kennedy once falsely claimed that some race groups have natural immunity to the virus. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately, Kennedy said. COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. RFKs critics feel that having a vaccine skeptic at the helm of the HHS is already cause for concern after the CDC began postponing meetings on national vaccine recommendations in February. After the committee also announced that it would start a renewed review of all recommended pediatric vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) put out a video titled, AAP Steps up on Vaccine Recommendations,” which warned that immunization policy through ACIP is “no longer a credible process” under RFK’s leadership. The AAP added that it will continue to publish its own recommendations on vaccines for children. Uncertainty at the CDC’s helm Thursdays recommendation from RFKs panel still has to be endorsed by the CDC. However, there is major confusion surrounding who is currently in charge of the organization, as it doesn’t seem to have a clear leader. Kennedy, and others, have recently sidestepped questions about the matter. Then, last week, RFK gave the name Matt Buzzelli, who he described as a public health expert” when Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester pressed him on who the current acting director was. The CDCs leadership page has Matthew Buzzelli, a trial lawyer with no health-related experience, listed fourth as the agencys chief of staff. Following the exchange, the Senator sent RFK a letter, expressing grave concern.
Category:
E-Commerce
Big Lots has been through a wild ride since the home discount retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last September. In December 2024, the company announced that it would hold going-out-of-business sales at its remaining store locations. The following month, however, Big Lots announced that Variety Wholesalersa retail company based in North Carolinawould acquire and operate hundreds of existing Big Lots stores. After a period of remodeling and restocking, Variety Wholesalers has since reopened 219 Big Lots stores in a handful of states. The openings took place in four waves, starting in April and ending in June. The final reopening phase concluded with the reopening of 78 Big Lots stores on June 5. While return of Big Lots is good news for fans of the brand, it may be exposing some unsuspecting bargain hunters to scamsparticularly, for shoppers who prefer to buy things online. Big Lots warns of online scams Earlier this month, Big Lots took to social media to alert customers about the presence of online scams, explaining that its current website has no e-commerce component. “BIG LOTS! no longer operates any ecommerce website,” the retailer wrote on its Facebook page. “These are scam websites using our name and logo. Any purchases made through these websites should be IMMEDIATELY reported to your bank or credit card company. Our official website is biglots.com. The post attracted hundreds of comments, with some commenters saying they’d fallen victim to the bogus offers. Scammers have been targeting consumers with online ads impersonating Big Lots. Links within these ads direct hopeful shoppers to fake websites that are not affiliated with the official retailer. Be aware that any advertisements promoting online Big Lots deals are not legitimate. Some products are still listed on the official Big Lots website A section of the retailer’s official website highlights products that Big Lots stores actually sell. Although there are no capabilities to make a purchase through the official Big Lots website, product listings include photos, descriptions, and prices. Jeff King, vice president of sales and marketing for Variety Wholesalers, told Fast Company that the products listed on the Big Lots website are meant to illustrate the deals available in-store. “We do have products listed on our website to show the great values on the large variety of products we carry in our stores,” he said. “We do this to encourage customers to visit our stores and see what deals they can find.” Bottom line: It’s essential to be vigilant against online shopping scams. If you’re hoping to shop at Big Lots, you’ll need to visit a physical store.
Category:
E-Commerce
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