Good evening. As Hurricane Milton barrels toward the west coast of Florida ahead of an expected landfall tonight, the political brawl continues over the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene and the misinformation being spread about it as wide swaths of the Southeast are still working to recover. Here’s what you should know.
Biden Denounces Trump's 'Onslaught of Lies' on Hurricane Relief
President Biden lashed out repeatedly Wednesday at former President Donald Trump and other Republicans who he accused of undercutting the response effort by promoting conspiracy theories and “outright lies.”
At an administration briefing on preparations for Hurricane Milton — which Biden warned is “looking like the storm of the century” — the president urged the people of Florida to follow all safety instructions and said he and his team have done all they could to prepare for the approaching tempest.
He then blasted the Republican claims about the Helene response. “Over the last few weeks, there has been a reckless, irresponsible, and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people,” Biden said. “It’s undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been taken and will continue to be taken, and it’s harmful to those who need help the most.”
Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have for days lobbed accusations about the federal response that have been met with pushback from officials across all levels of government. In a social media post on Monday, Trump wrote: “The GREAT people of North Carolina are being stood up by Harris and Biden, who are giving almost all of the FEMA money to Illegal Migrants in what is now considered to be the WORST rescue operation in the history of the U.S.” The former president has also claimed that storm victims had been told they would receive only $750.
Biden on Wednesday went after Trump and those allegations directly. “Former President Trump has led this onslaught of lies,” he said. “Assertions have been made that property is being confiscated. That’s simply not true. They’re saying people impacted by these storms will receive $750 in cash and no more. That’s simply not true. They’re saying the money needed to — for this crisis is being diverted to migrants. What a ridiculous thing to say. It’s not true.”
In remarks delivered from the White House later in the day, Biden repeated the message, adding that the lies are “un-American” and that claims that money needed for hurricane relief has been diverted to migrants are outrageous and untrue.
Biden also called out Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. She had claimed on social media last week that “they” — apparently referring to the government — “can control the weather.” Biden called those claims “even more bizarre” than Trump’s and “beyond ridiculous.”
“It’s got to stop,” he added. “In moments like this, there are no red or blue states. There’s one United States of America, where neighbors are helping neighbors; volunteers and first responders are risking everything, including their own lives, to help their fellow Americans; state, local, and federal officials are standing side by side.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas insisted Wednesday that FEMA has the resources it needs to respond to both hurricanes, but warned that misinformation is causing victims of Helene to avoid seeking the help they could get.
Some Republican officials have also sought to dispel the false claims and conspiracy theories.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards, whose district was hit by Helene, posted a list of eight “outrageous rumors” he wanted to correct. Among his points:
* “Hurricane Helene was NOT geoengineered by the government to seize and access lithium deposits in Chimney Rock.”
* “FEMA has NOT diverted disaster response funding to the border or foreign aid.”
* “FEMA is NOT going to run out of money.”
* “FEMA cannot seize your property or land.”
* “FEMA is NOT only providing $750 to disaster survivors to support their recovery.”
Edwards ended his post with a reminder to his constituents. “I encourage you to remember that everything you see on Facebook, X, or any other social media platform is not always fact,” he wrote. “Please make sure you are fact checking what you read online with a reputable source.”
Hurricanes Threaten to Swamp Federal Flood Insurance Program
Coming on the heels of the historically destructive Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, Hurricane Milton is threatening to push the limits of the nation’s flood insurance program.
Politico’s Elleanor Mueller reports that lawmakers in Washington fear that insurance claims from the two massive storms will exhaust the $5 billion in reserves in the National Flood Insurance Program, which has provided coverage against flood damage for millions of property owners since 1968. The program, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, could be forced to tap some of the $9.9 billion in borrowing authority it has as of August 2024.
Even if the insurance program utilizes its full borrowing authority, it may need more funding. “The fundamental question here is, will $15 billion be enough to cover Helene and a Category 5 that hits Tampa?” a Republican staffer said to Mueller. “No, $15 billion probably would not ultimately be enough money.”
The potential shortfall occurs amid long-standing concerns about the health of the insurance program, which some critics have decried as a money pit that has consistently failed to accurately gauge the risk of flooding. Depending on how Hurricane Milton plays out in the coming days, lawmakers may need to address some of those immediate and long-term issues when they return to Washington after the election.
Weight Loss Drugs Would Cost Medicare $35 Billion: CBO
A new generation of anti-obesity drugs has changed the weight-loss game for millions of Americans, and a new report from the Congressional Budget Office estimates that covering those drugs under Medicare would cost the federal government about $35 billion between 2026 and 2034.
In its analysis, CBO estimated that 12.5 million Medicare beneficiaries would qualify to use anti-obesity medications, which include glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, a class of drugs originally developed to treat diabetes and sold under a number of commercial names, including Ozempic and Wegovy. CBO assumes that 2% of the eligible population would start using the drugs in the first year solely for weight loss at a cost of $1.6 billion, with the cost rising to $7.1 billion by 2034 as usage expands.
Patients using the drugs would likely experience fewer health problems overall, reducing expenditures for other services covered by Medicare. But those savings would be relatively small, CBO says, totaling less than $50 million in the first year, rising to $1 billion in 2034.
On a per-user basis, CBO estimates the drugs would cost $5,600 per patient in 2026, with the cost falling to $4,300 per patient in 2034 as drug prices decline. On the savings side, CBO estimates that the drugs would reduce overall health spending by about $50 per patient to start, rising to $650 per patient by 2034.
Medicare currently covers the cost of the GLP-1 drugs for patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but not solely for weight loss. Lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow the drugs to be covered more broadly.
Fiscal News Roundup
- Biden Accuses Trump of ‘Outright Lies’ About Hurricane Response – New York Times
- FEMA Scrambles to Confront Two Storms—and Misinformation – Wall Street Journal
- As Milton Misinformation Swells, Some Republicans Try to Course Correct – Politico
- FEMA Has Enough Funding for Hurricane Milton. What’s Next Is Less Certain – Washington Post
- Milton Threatens to Trigger Flood Insurance Reckoning for Congress – Politico
- After Floods, Soaring Insurance Rates Become a Hot Election Issue – New York Times
- Healthcare Premiums Are Soaring Even as Inflation Eases, in Charts – Wall Street Journal
- Social Security’s Scheduled Cost of Living Increase ‘Won’t Make a Dent’ for Some Retirees – Associated Press
- Vance Calls $500 Million Federal Grant for Michigan Electric Vehicle Plant ‘Table Scraps’ – Washington Post
- Resistance to Public Health, No Longer Fringe, Gains Foothold in G.O.P. Politics – New York Times
- Fed Officials Debated Whether a Big Rate Cut Was Smart in September – New York Times
- The Fight for the House and Senate: Where Things Stand – Washington Post
- How Waffle House Helps Southerners — and FEMA — Judge a Storm’s Severity – Associated Press
Views and Analysis
- Harris In-Home Care Plan Recognizes Information Gap on Seniors – David Dayen, American Prospect
- Harris’s Fiscal ‘Sandwich’ Plan – Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
- Washington Racks Up Another $1.8 Trillion Budget Deficit – Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
- Hurricane Price-Gouging Doesn’t Trigger Economist Reassessment – David Dayen, American Prospect
- Fed’s 2% Inflation Target Is ‘Sacrosanct’ — and Here – Liz Hoffman, Semafor
- Does Higher Spending on Primary Care Lead to Lower Total Health Care Spending? – Gary Swan et al, Health Affairs
- Social Security Payments Aren’t Rising Fast Enough for Most Seniors – Michelle Singletary, Washington Post
- How Kamala Harris’s Media Blitz Went – Aaron Blake, Washington Post
- Fox News Quietly Reports on a Fact Sheet Correcting Fox News Misinformation – Philip Bump, Washington Post
- The Education Crisis Neither Candidate Will Address – Jessica Grose, New York Times
- Hurricane Milton Is Terrifying, and It Is Just the Start – Porter Fox, New York Times