The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is cutting its epidemic prevention programs in 39 out of 49 countries due to a lack of funding, reports the WashPost.
Why it matters: The CDC received a $600 million grant from Congress in 2014 to help fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Most of the organization's epidemic funding comes from that one-time package, and the Trump administration is not expected to renew the budget when resources run out in September 2019.
House and Senate Republicans are increasingly open to the idea of a program that would pump billions of dollars into insurance markets to help stabilize the Affordable Care Act's exchanges. But they'll need to reconcile big differences over how much to spend and how much to leave up to states.
Our thought bubble: Generally, experts are saying the more reinsurance money, the better — if Congress is serious about bringing down premiums in the individual market. But the House bill includes enough state flexibility that this money could end up being used inefficiently, some experts warn.
