More Voters Blame GOP Lawmakers Than Dems for Lengthy Shutdown, Polling Shows
The shutdown has entered its fourth week of political stalemate, making it the second-longest in US history.| Articles – Truthout
On the monthly Health or Consequences episode of The Codcast, John McDonough of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute spoke with Audrey Gasteier, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector. Gasteier about the current crisis facing residents of the Commonwealth should the federal government fail to renew premium tax credits.| CommonWealth Beacon
Fortunately, the Washington Monthly offers solutions. The post Government Shutdown Fallout: A Reminder That We Still Need Health Care for Gig Workers, Sole Proprietors appeared first on Washington Monthly.| Washington Monthly
On Monday, Oct. 20, the U.S. Senate failed for an 11th time to advance a House-passed measure and end the shutdown The post ‘Going to Get Tougher’: Tribes Grapple With Ongoing Government Shutdown appeared first on Underscore Native News.| Underscore Native News
The shutdown has entered its fourth week of political stalemate, making it the second-longest in US history.| Articles – Truthout
Family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance reached an average of $26,993 this year, KFF’s annual benchmark health benefits survey of large and smaller employers finds. On average, workers contribute $6,850 annually to the cost of family coverage, with employers paying the rest.| KFF
During an appearance on Fox Business' Claman Countdown, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) discussed the ongoing government shutdown, admitting that "it does suck," while emphasizing that healthcare negotiations need to happen. "This does suck, and I am sorry that we are actually putting you in this situation," Sen. Gallego began, addressing constituents. "And in the short […] The post Ruben Gallego Says Shutdown 'Does Suck,' Emphasizes Healthcare Negotiations appeared first on Cactus Politics.| Cactus Politics
Representative Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) joined a letter with several other House Republicans affirming Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) blaming of Senate Democrats for the government shutdown while also pushing for healthcare reforms. Republicans have long argued that Democrats refuse to reopen the government because the continuing resolution (CR) passed by House Republicans allows Affordable Care Act […] The post Juan Ciscomani Joins Letter Blaming Senate Democrats for Shutdown appeared first on...| Cactus Politics
While Republicans in Washington, D.C. are opposed to extending the healthcare subsidies for the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, state insurance commissioners, including Montana Auditor James Brown, a Republican, sent a letter to Congressional leaders last month urging them to continue the enhanced tax credits that began during the pandemic. “Without an extension of the enhanced […]| Daily Montanan
Amidst a government shutdown, healthcare subsidies have metastasized into a major threat to the nation’s fiscal and economic health.| Tax Foundation
Experts discuss what the loss of Obamacare subsidies means to patients and costs within the ACA insurance marketplace.| Tradeoffs
With the federal government shutdown ongoing with no end in sight, the reality is setting in that there could be real, painful consequences for ordinary Americans, including many in Connecticut.| CT News Junkie
As Marketplace Open Enrollment nears, policy changes could leave millions of people facing substantially higher premiums and coverage loss, which could lead more consumers to purchase less expensive and less comprehensive coverage through short-term health plans. KFF analyzes short-term health policies sold by nine large insurers in 36 states, examining premiums, cost sharing, covered benefits, and coverage limitations and comparing them to ACA Marketplace plans.| KFF
Earlier this month, 1.2 million Georgians were able to log into Georgia Access to check their 2026 health insurance premiums. A family of four in Chatham County discovered they’d be paying nearly $20,000 more per year for the lowest cost plan. Not $20,000 total. Twenty thousand dollars more than last year. That’s a used car. […]| The Georgia Sun
The fiscal fight that resulted in the current federal government shutdown is, at its core, about the healthcare sector, spiraling healthcare costs, and federal subsidies.| Tax Foundation
60,000 West Virginians could lose ACA subsidies, sending premiums sky-high. Lawmakers are staying quiet.| Mountain State Spotlight
Excerpts of a live conversation with two top health economists about how extra federal support has helped millions of Americans access health insurance, and what would happen if that aid went away. The post BONUS: What Happens if Obamacare Subsidies Shrink? appeared first on Tradeoffs.| Tradeoffs
In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman shows how spiking premiums, which may come if the enhanced ACA tax credits are not extended, will hit people in the context of their family budgets, alongside rising costs for food, housing and utilities. For some families, their new health care costs could far exceed what they pay for food, affecting their economic security and potentially their vote.| KFF
In August, 16 U.S. Senators asked CHIR to review health insurers’ filings to state regulators supporting their 2026 rate requests. Drawing on an analysis of 178 Marketplace plan filings, CHIR examines the double-digit premium increases many insurers are proposing for 2026.| CHIRblog
It’s all about pretending a boatload of federal cash helps the free market.| The American Prospect
With a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi introduced a bill that aims to prevent millions of Americans from losing health coverage.| The Independence
Federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans are set to shrink next year. Many shoppers are expected to be priced out, leaving those who stay with higher premiums. The dynamic that threatens to leave markets with fewer and more expensive options as insurers exit, too. How did we get here? The post Obamacare Premiums Are About to Soar. How’d We Get Here? appeared first on Tradeoffs.| Tradeoffs
In his latest column, KFF’s President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman looks at why the issue of extending the enhanced ACA tax credits has languished in Congress without clear direction, despite its importance to the 24 million people who get their coverage in the ACA Marketplaces today and the potentially significant role the issue could play in the midterms if the credits are not extended.| KFF
Marketplace enrollees are facing threats to their health coverage and healthcare affordability as a result of the recently enacted budget reconciliation bill. CHIR expert Karen Davenport discusses the impending expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, which would drastically compound the coverage losses of H.R. 1 for American consumers.| CHIRblog
September 8, 2025 On July 4, 2025, Donald Trump signed the cartoonishly-named “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBA) into law. This budget bill creates a massive regressive transfer of wealth through its harmful provisions – these provisions impose massive cuts to programs that benefit lower- and middle-income individuals in order to fund tax cuts to […]| Champaign County Health Care Consumers
Duncan Smith looks at changing governmental priorities and their impact on health and health/medical insurance — and how we can respond.| Mennonite Church USA
Komen patient navigator Elizabeth Chavez shares how she and her team of navigators in Komen’s Patient Care Center work to reduce the financial barriers to care within the breast cancer community.| Susan G. Komen®
The first of numerous federal policies that reverse recent coverage gains under the the Affordable Care Act are scheduled to go into effect on August 25, but two lawsuits have been filed to block them. CHIR's Sabrina Corlette reviews the imminent policy changes, their impact, and the legal challenges to watch.| CHIRblog
The GOP wants to fund billionaire tax cuts—and let disabled Americans pay the price.| Mother Jones
The Affordable Care Act was supposed to make it easier for American workers to switch jobs by making it easier to get health insurance from sources other than their current employer. Mostly it didn…| Economist Writing Every Day
The recently enacted federal budget law is set to significantly roll back health insurance coverage for millions. CHIR experts Billy Dering, Amy Killelea and Christine Monahan discuss what this means for people with insulin-requiring diabetes.| CHIRblog
The Office of the Attending Physician gives politicians nearly unlimited medical care for about $54 a month.| The American Prospect
For Congress, work on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is done. But in state capitols, the work has not yet begun. Many of the tax changes in the federal reconciliation act flow through to state tax codes—automatically in some states, and subject to an update in states’ Internal Revenue Code conformity date in others.| Tax Foundation
U-M Health Economist Thomas Buchmueller joined the show to break down what’s changing, who will feel it first, and what Michigan can do to soften the blow.| WDET 101.9 FM
In his latest Beyond the Data column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman discusses whether Democrats can make the Medicaid and ACA cuts a winning political issue before the midterm elections and before most people feel the cuts.| KFF
Federal reforms force North Carolina to make tough decisions about Medicaid coverage, costs, and eligibility under mounting pressure.| North Carolina Health News
Officials warn that sweeping federal cuts to Medicaid, food aid and clean energy programs could unravel key safety nets across the state.| North Carolina Health News
In an attempt to continue tracking the latest actions of the federal government’s legislative and executive branches affecting the healthcare industry since the last article was released in March, this article summarizes recent events in Washington and the impact of these changes on providers and patients.| QuickRead | News for the Financial Consulting Professional
In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, KFF’s President and CEO, discusses the limits of polling on policy, and what we have learned over more than 30 years of polling about how giving people more information and arraying tradeoffs can change opinion, including on the health policy changes and funding cuts in the current reconciliation bill.| KFF
In his latest column, President and CEO Drew Altman discusses how, with nearly half, or about 10 million MAGA supporters and Republicans receiving coverage through the ACA Marketplaces, the policy changes and cuts being considered by Republicans to the Marketplaces will directly affect their own voters. Altman writes: "Republicans are no longer interested in repealing the ACA but seem comfortable shrinking it significantly if they can, so long as they don’t touch protections for pre-existin...| From Drew Altman Archive | KFF
In his latest column, President and CEO Drew Altman shows how proposals contained in the House reconciliation bill could result in a one-third reduction in ACA Marketplace enrollment. “While all eyes are on the big Medicaid cuts being proposed in the House,” he writes, “significant changes are also being proposed that together would dramatically reduce enrollment in the ACA Marketplaces.”| From Drew Altman Archive | KFF
In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman discusses the history of the battles over the ACA’s provisions that were designed to expand coverage for the uninsured, which helps explain the effort to cut federal funding for the Medicaid expansion today. The real underlying issues, he says, are the same divisions that have always plagued the debate about covering the uninsured.| From Drew Altman Archive | KFF
In his latest column, president and CEO Drew Altman discusses why debate about extending the ACA enhanced tax credits set to expire this year has been slow to develop, and why it could matter to Republicans politically if the tax credits are not extended.| From Drew Altman Archive | KFF
In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman examines the implications of Secretary Kennedy’s reorganization of HHS and why it’s a sharp break from past efforts to reorganize the department.| From Drew Altman Archive | KFF
KFF’s president and CEO Drew Altman writes in a new column about the factors driving the biggest health policy decisions now—how to pay for tax cuts and whether President Trump wants another big fight about health care.| From Drew Altman Archive | KFF
In a new column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman discusses what President Trump’s decision to pull back the broad freeze in federal grant funding might portend for his response to future policies in health that prove controversial or unpopular.| From Drew Altman Archive | KFF
The Affordable Care Act turned fifteen years old this month and looks exactly the same as it did when it became law.| RVer Insurance Exchange
A proposed federal rule issued this week would, if finalized, bring wide-ranging changes for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplace, including a shorter open enrollment period in all states.| healthinsurance.org
Signups for Obamacare on Minnesota’s official health insurance marketplace, MNsure, hit a record 167,163 people for coverage in 2025.| Mshale
As of the 2025 plan year, there will be 20 fully state-run health insurance marketplaces (SBMs), three state-based marketplaces that use the federal platform (SBM-FP), and 28 fully federally run marketplaces. Three of the SBMs had an SBM-FP model in 2021, but transitioned to their own enrollment platforms as of the 2022 plan year. Virginia joined them in the fall of 2023, and Georgia will also be running its own exchange platform by the fall of 2024. Illinois has enacted legislation to creat...| healthinsurance.org
The Medicaid “unwinding” led to fears that the number of people without insurance would spike. But it also coincided with moves in more than a dozen states to expand health coverage for lower-income people, including children, pregnant women and the incarcerated.| Stateline
Federal penalties for being uninsured no longer apply since 2019, but some states are implementing their own coverage mandates. Find more info here.| healthinsurance.org
Learn how the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) improved health coverage and made it more affordable through income-based subsidies.| healthinsurance.org
