Half of HHS would stop working during a shutdown

The details:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “would be unable to support the annual seasonal influenza program … and support to state and local partners for infectious disease surveillance,” HHS’ contingency plan says. 63% of CDC employees would be furloughed.
• The National Institutes of Health would not admit new patients or approve any new grants during a shutdown. 77% of NIH employees would be furloughed.
• The Food and Drug Administration would need to freeze most of its food safety oversight, its inspections, and its monitoring of imported products. 42% of FDA employees would be furloughed.

Some key programs would be OK. Medicare would continue largely unfazed, as would HHS’ support for the Affordable Care Act’s federally run insurance exchanges.

The department also says it would be able to retain the staff who help states tap into funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program — though a shutdown would mean that Congress has still failed to renew that funding. States will begin to run out of CHIP funding again next month.