U.S. Government shutdown: More on effect on Medicare and Medicaid

How a government shutdown would affect Medicare, Medicaid benefits While CMS is partially shielded from the impending tumult, it will retain fewer than half of its employees until a shutdown ends. Sabrina Malhi The Washington Post

A government shutdown could wreak havoc on many federally funded programs if lawmakers cannot negotiate a spending deal by the Saturday deadline, including potential disruptions to some services provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Medicare benefits will not be affected, and Medicaid has full funding for the next three months. While the agency is partially shielded from the impending tumult, it would retain fewer than half of its employees — many unpaid — until the potential shutdown ends, according to the updated Health and Human Services contingency plan released Thursday.

The truncated staffing could hamper CMS’s ability to provide adequate oversight on many health benefit programs. Administrative tasks, such as issuing replacement Medicare cards and benefit verification services, would be temporarily halted. Hospitals and medical providers might experience delays in receiving payment from Medicare.

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Millions of Americans depend on Medicare benefits, making any potential disruptions to the agency concerning. The last time Medicare was severely disrupted was during the 1995-1996 shutdown, when more than 10,000 Medicare applicants were temporarily turned away every day of the shutdown, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington.

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ALSO SEE: The impact on U.S. Health Programs if the Federal Government Shuts Down

(Originally posted yesterday.)

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