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Congressional leaders have made another tentative deal to keep the government open and fund key health programs into March, but hospitals and other healthcare industries continue to await action on vital matters. Congress will act this week to advance a third stopgap appropriations bill, which would prevent a partial government shutdown from commencing Friday and fund operations until March 8. The legislation offers only short-term relief for a healthcare sector that needs Congress to approve funding for the rest of fiscal 2024. (McAuliff, 1/16)

The Senate on Tuesday took the first step in advancing a stopgap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the week, buying time to enact a broader bipartisan funding agreement for the remainder of the year. By a 68-to-13 vote, senators voted to take up the legislation, which would temporarily extend funding for some federal agencies until March 1 and for others through March 8. It would keep spending levels flat while lawmakers and aides hammer out the details of a $1.66 trillion deal reached between Speaker Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican, and Democrats. (Edmondson, 1/16)

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has been admitted to a local Washington hospital to treat an infection, his office announced Tuesday. “Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is receiving antibiotic infusions at an area hospital to treat an infection,” Grassley’s office said in a statement. “He is in good spirits and will return to work as soon as possible following doctors’ orders.” Grassley, 90, is the chamber’s oldest member. He earned that distinction after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) passed away in September after health troubles that consumed her final years in office. (Weaver, 1/16)

The chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging is launching a review of safety lapses in the assisted-living industry, saying an investigation by The Washington Post into the deaths of dementia-care residents who have wandered from facilities had revealed “horrific” neglect and a “violation of trust.” In response to The Post’s finding that nearly 100 seniors have died over the past five years after leaving facilities unnoticed or being left unattended outside, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) sent letters Tuesday to the nation’s three largest assisted-living chain owners seeking information about their practices. The Post’s report is the first nationwide accounting of such deaths. (Rowland, 1/16)

�Թϲ�����: America’s Health System Isn’t Ready For The Surge Of Seniors With Disabilities 

The number of older adults with disabilities — difficulty with walking, seeing, hearing, memory, cognition, or performing daily tasks such as bathing or using the bathroom — will soar in the decades ahead, as baby boomers enter their 70s, 80s, and 90s. But the health care system isn’t ready to address their needs. (Graham, 1/17)

For lessons on how to age well, we could do worse than turn to Richard Morgan. At 93, the Irishman is a four-time world champion in indoor rowing, with the aerobic engine of a healthy 30- or 40-year-old and the body-fat percentage of a whippet. He’s also the subject of a new case study, published last month in the Journal of Applied Physiology, that looked at his training, diet and physiology. (Reynolds, 1/16)