Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Desperate Americans Making Impossible Choices Between Health Insurance, Food And Rent As They Try To Scrape By
Two days before learning that she would lose her job, Lissa Gilliam spent hundreds of dollars online on baby products. A 37-year-old expectant mother, Ms. Gilliam had planned to ask local parents in Seattle for used strollers and secondhand onesies in a bid to reduce waste. But as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the area, new items delivered in boxes seemed a safer bet. (Hsu, 4/22)
The government is sending stimulus payments to dead people 鈥 and that鈥檚 not as surprising as it sounds. Though easy to mock, some say it鈥檚 hardly unusual when the IRS is trying to distribute payments to more than 150 million Americans. (Faler, 4/22)
President Trump joined mounting criticism of Harvard on Tuesday, saying the richest university in the country would pay back $8.6 million in relief money from a coronavirus stimulus package that the president himself signed last month. 鈥淗arvard鈥檚 going to pay back the money,鈥 Mr. Trump said at his evening news briefing, adding, 鈥淭hey have one of the largest endowments anywhere in the country, maybe in the world, I guess, and they鈥檙e going to pay back that money.鈥 (Hartocollis, 4/21)
Harvard University on Tuesday pushed back against President Trump's call for the institution to return funds it received from the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, saying the money it accepted would go toward assisting students financially impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. The university聽emphasized in a statement that it received the money from a $14 billion fund established under the CARES Act, called the聽Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, and not a separate program designed to help small businesses retain employees amid the pandemic. (Wise, 4/21)
The Trump Organization has asked the federal government to include it in any accommodations it may make for private tenants as the coronavirus pandemic has caused widespread layoffs and a falloff in revenue at the company, the president鈥檚 son Eric Trump said Tuesday. The discussions over the lease for President Trump鈥檚 D.C. hotel could pose a major test for how the Trump administration intends to treat the president鈥檚 private business as it navigates a perilous time for the hospitality industry. (Partlow and O'Connell, 4/21)
Damon West was hoping the government鈥檚 coronavirus rescue package for small-business owners would help replace the income he鈥檚 lost now that he can鈥檛 travel the country as a keynote speaker. But then he got a call from his accountant. A question on the application form asked whether, within the last five years, he had been convicted of or pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony or 鈥渂een placed on any form of parole or probation.鈥 Another asked whether anyone who owns at least 20% of the company was incarcerated, under indictment or on probation or parole. If so, they are ineligible. (Colvin, 4/22)
While many companies have laid off workers during the pandemic, several businesses in the region are still hiring, according to a new survey. Boston-based career management firm聽Keystone Partners found that 62% of businesses in New England are hiring during the coronavirus outbreak. (Enwemeka, 4/22)