I was working on a story a few weeks ago about newly published data from the CDC so I reached out, through multiple channels, to interview one of the lead researchers. I was so close to getting that interview, until I was told the call with the researcher couldn’t be scheduled until further notice because of the federal government shutdown. This might sound familiar to those of you who are reaching out to federal agencies to report in any capacity. The shutdown is making our jobs harder and, more importantly, it’s adding serious strain to health agencies, policies and programs on which millions of people depend.
What’s happening to health agencies
During the current funding lapse, discretionary federal operations have come to a near-standstill. While some mandatory programs carry on, lots of key activities at agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC are scaled back, furloughed or permitted only “essential” functions.
For reporters, this means less access, fewer updates, and more unanswered emails. Research applications are on hold. Outbreak tracking is delayed. Public health messaging has been muted or postponed. And the communication vacuum has made it increasingly challenging to access reliable, real-time information at a moment when clarity on health issues is critical.
Key policy and program impacts
Here are several major health angles to consider as the shutdown continues:
Health funding and subsidies. The shutdown is deeply tied to a fight over health care subsidies — especially the enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. The outcome could directly affect millions of people’s access to affordable coverage. The health policy stake is higher for this shutdown than many previous ones. That means stories about insurance markets, premium hikes or coverage lapses are not peripheral, they’re central.
Impacts on health care providers and safety-net facilities. Federally-funded community health centers, medically underserved clinics, and hospitals that rely on federal add-ons (e.g., Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments) are already reporting disruption. The loss of funding and reimbursement add-ons has forced some to consider service cuts or staffing reductions.
The shutdown’s impact may feel abstract in Washington, but these consequences are visible locally. For example, the pause in the Hospital Care at Home Initiative, which allows Medicare-certified hospitals to treat older adults with inpatient-level care at home, has led to an influx of older adults visiting emergency rooms or forcing them not to seek care at all.
What federally-qualified health center in your region that receives federal funds is seeing uncertainty? Interview the director, ask about staffing, service reductions, patient load, budget gaps. Link that local situation back to the national picture (e.g., community health centers’ vulnerability in a shutdown).
Programs with flexibility (telehealth, “hospital-at-home”, waivers). Some of the innovations born out of the pandemic — expanded telehealth, hospital-at-home models — are caught in the crosswinds. For example, the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver faces uncertainty because of the funding lapse and legislative limbo. This gives reporters an opporutnity to explore how patients and providers are adapting — or not — when regulatory flexibility disappears.
Health-agency communications and data flow. For reporters, this is a real problem: when agencies furlough staff or defer non-urgent work, the flow of official statements, data releases and expert access slows. That’s exactly what happened in my case: a backup in scheduling the interview meant I couldn’t move forward with a line of reporting I had planned.
That silence is itself a story. What data isn’t being collected? What surveillance or reporting functions are on pause? For example, “Opioid overdose data delayed while CDC staff furloughed” or “Telehealth policy review halted amid funding freeze.” Treat each delay or non-response as a clue to where public health capacity is breaking down. Think of the job you can’t do (like scheduling that interview) as a signal of a broader story.
Delayed regulation and oversight. With funding stalled, rule-making, oversight, grant reviews and other regulatory work are delayed. For instance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services appears unable to move ahead with certain rulemakings for Medicare Advantage because of appropriations uncertainty. Oversight functions, including grant reviews and compliance checks, are on hold. That’s another underreported angle — how regulation lapses can reshape policy implementation for months to come.
