At Wednesday Hearing, Senators Leave Door Open To Extending ACA Subsidies
No major overhaul seems possible before the end of the year, but optimism remained for an extension. Other news from Capitol Hill is on fraudulent Obamacare signups, President Donald Trump's role in any potential health care deal, health insurance affordability, and more.
Roll Call:
Senate Panel Sees Opening, However Slight, For Health Care Deal
At a hearing on health care affordability Wednesday, senators left the door open for a bipartisan agreement that would extend expiring Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies before year’s end, a day after many of their colleagues had essentially slammed it shut. (Raman, 12/3)
Politico:
Watchdog Finds Fraudulent Obamacare Signups And Republicans Cry Foul
A federal watchdog dropped what a top House Republican called “a bombshell” Wednesday, revealing how easy it is for fraudsters to extract Obamacare payments by setting up health insurance accounts for people who do not exist. The Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, said it had set up 24 fake accounts during the 2024 and 2025 plan years and that 22 had slipped through. The fake accounts in 2025 cost the government more than $10,000 per month in subsidies. (King, 12/3)
Politico:
Trump Wants A Health Care Deal. He’s Leaving The Details To Congress
The White House is providing congressional Republicans with few specific demands on what kind of health care legislation President Donald Trump might support, giving some Republicans heartburn about how they will prevent a dramatic spike in some health premiums next month. Republican lawmakers crafting legislation to address the subsidy cliff, however, say they are regularly in touch with the White House and focused on getting a plan that could reach the president’s desk — requiring consensus among their own party and the Democrats needed to get a bill through the Senate. (Haslett and Carney, 12/4)
NPR:
U.S. Health Care Is Broken — And It’s Getting Worse
One year after UnitedHealthcare's CEO was shot and killed, the crisis in U.S. health care has gotten even worse — in ways both obvious and hidden. People increasingly can't afford health insurance. The costs of both Obamacare and employer-sponsored insurance plans are set to skyrocket next year, in a country where health care is already the most expensive in the developed world. (Aspan, 12/4)
AP:
New Poll Shows ACA Enrollees Are Struggling With Health Costs
Fifty-two-year-old Dinam Bigny sank into debt and had to get a roommate this year, in part because of health insurance premiums that cost him nearly $900 per month. Next year, those monthly fees will rise by $200 — a significant enough increase that the program manager in Aldie, Virginia, has resigned himself to finding cheaper coverage. “I won’t be able to pay it, because I really drained out any savings that I have right now,” he said. “Emergency fund is still draining out — that’s the scary part.” (Swenson, Sanders and Thomson-Deveaux, 12/4)
More news from Capitol Hill —
The 19th:
Rep. Delia Ramirez Criticizes ICE Treatment Of Pregnant, Postpartum Immigrants
Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, introduced a resolution Wednesday calling on the Trump administration to permanently reinstate policies protecting pregnant immigrants and to closely monitor reproductive health care quality and access across all detention facilities. (Barclay, 12/3)
KFF Health News:
Republicans Left Tribes Out Of Their $50B Rural Fund. Now It’s Up To States To Share
The Trump administration is touting its $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program as the largest-ever U.S. investment in rural health care. But the government made minimal mention of Native American tribes in sparsely populated areas and in need of significant improvements to health care access. (Orozco Rodriguez, 12/4)
