GOP coronavirus bill seemingly excludes some nonprofit health care providers from federal assistance


There's a new sticking point in Congress' coronavirus stimulus package negotiations.
Democrats aren't pleased with the Senate GOP's bill, as evidenced by the decision to kill a procedural vote Sunday that delayed a Monday vote. One provision in the bill that stands out, The Washington Post reports, would exclude "nonprofits receiving Medicaid expenditures" from receiving federal small business loans.
Some people interpret the language as a way to specifically deny assistance to Planned Parenthood, but many Democratic aides reportedly believe it would extend to a wide range of nonprofit health care providers including those offering services for people with disabilities, nursing homes, mental health centers, and rape crisis centers.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mara Youdelman, the managing attorney of the the National Health Law Program's Washington, D.C., office, said tens of millions of people rely on such providers, including people in rural areas where health care access can be more difficult. During a pandemic, Youdelman said, there will be a demand in services, and because Medicaid "historically underpays" for them, the providers will need more assistance to stay open. "We should be doing everything possible to keep them in business, both to help manage the pandemic and to keep people needing routine care healthy and out of overwhelmed hospitals," Youdelman said. Read more at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement