In Case You Missed It...

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on the government shutdown−debt limit crisis and health reform and noted the death of former House Speaker Tom Foley.

• On Tom Foley’s passing, Robert Greenstein recalled the former Speaker’s accomplishments and leadership qualities.

• On the government shutdown−debt limit crisis, we highlighted Robert Greenstein’s statement on the agreement that ended the crisis.  Chad Stone explained that the political dysfunction resulting from the recent string of budget crises is taking a toll on the economy.  Chuck Marr noted that a proposal floated during the budget crisis — to “pay for” repealing part of the sequestration budget cuts with a corporate tax holiday — actually would cost billions of dollars a year.

• On health reform, Judy Solomon explained that the deal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit doesn’t change the procedures for verifying applicants’ eligibility for health insurance subsidies.  Paul Van de Water debunked five claims about health reform’s medical device tax and highlighted a New York Times op-ed on ways to lower the cost of medical devices.  He also pointed out that health reform’s Independent Payment Advisory Board provides an important backstop to health reform’s other cost control measures.

In other news, we issued a statement from Robert Greenstein on the deal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit, and we updated a paper on health reform’s likely impact on part-time work.  We also updated our backgrounder on the number of weeks of unemployment benefits available in each state.

A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently.  Here are some highlights:

Shutdown deal averts catastrophe but leaves economy in peril
Washington Post
October 17, 2013

Exporting Romneycare: Who are the winners and losers as health reform goes national?
Boston Globe
October 13, 2013

It’s Not Only Mothers and Children
New York Times editorial
October 12, 2013