Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Revives ACA Subsidy Extension; Senate Reaching For Compromise Bill
Stat: House Passes ACA Subsidy Extension As Bipartisan Negotiations Heat Up In Senate
The House voted 230 to 196 to pass a three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats in favor. Five Republicans did not vote. (Wilkerson, 1/8)
Politico: The GOP's Obamacare Defectors Were More Numerous Than Expected
Republicans in competitive seats see a grave threat to their reelections in skyrocketing insurance premiums. That was apparent Thursday in the defection of 17 in the House who voted for Democrats’ bill to restore expired Obamacare subsidies for three more years. The GOP revolt was bigger than anticipated and a stunning rebuke to Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump. The 17, primarily from swing seats or districts with large numbers of people enrolled in Obamacare plans, sent a clear message from the GOP’s most-at-risk members that they’re more afraid of losing their voters in an unfavorable midterm climate than they are of bucking their party leaders. (Kashinsky and Levien, 1/8)
The Hill: House GOP To Question Health Insurers On Premium Hikes, Costs Amid ACA Turmoil
House Republicans on Thursday said they are summoning top health insurance executives to testify later this month as part of a series of hearings about health care affordability. The move from the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees comes weeks after the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies expired on Dec. 31, resulting in significant out-of-pocket cost increases for tens of millions of low- and middle-income Americans on ACA plans. (Weixel, 1/8)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: New Year, Same Health Fight
Congress returned from its holiday break to the same question it faced in December: whether to extend covid-era premium subsidies for health plans sold under the Affordable Care Act. The expanded subsidies expired at the end of 2025, leaving more than 20 million Americans facing dramatically higher out-of-pocket costs for insurance. (Rovner, 1/8)
Related news from Massachusetts and Connecticut —
Bloomberg: Massachusetts Gives $250 Million To Cover Rising Insurance Costs
Massachusetts is dipping into its reserves for $250 million as a way to help cover the hole in health insurance coverage created by the expiration of federal Obamacare subsidies. The funding boost will cover only a portion of the lapsed aid, though about 270,000 residents are expected to see at least some relief from the infusion. “Massachusetts families cannot afford President Trump’s drastic increases to their health insurance premiums,” Governor Maura Healey, a first-term Democrat running for reelection this year, said in a statement. (Ryan, 1/8)
The Connecticut Mirror: Connecticut Weighs Extending Open Enrollment Due To Uncertainty With Federal Health Care Subsidies
With uncertainty in Congress around reviving expired federal health care subsidies, Connecticut officials are considering another extension of open enrollment for 2026 Affordable Care Act plans. Federal lawmakers are trying different avenues to bring back the enhanced premium subsidies in some form after they lapsed at the end of the year. But depending on what Congress may do over the coming weeks, the state’s marketplace, Access Health CT, said it is in discussions with carriers about potentially extending the final deadline beyond Jan. 31 for another month or two. (Agen, 1/8)
More updates from Capitol Hill —
MedPage Today: AMA Urges Congress To Make Telehealth Flexibilities Permanent
With the deadline for making pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities permanent looming at the end of the month, the American Medical Association (AMA) issued a brief aimed at convincing lawmakers to take action. "Since the COVID-19 public health emergency, Congress has repeatedly extended telehealth flexibilities for Medicare patients -- often at the last moment -- creating uncertainty for millions of patients and their physicians," said AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, MD, in a press release. (Firth, 1/8)
Becker's Hospital Review: Senators Widen Probe Into UnitedHealth Nursing Home Practices
Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are expanding their probe into UnitedHealth Group’s nursing home programs after the company provided what they said is an insufficient response to their initial inquiry, along with new allegations of resident deaths. In a Jan. 7 follow-up letter to UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley, the senators wrote they are renewing their inquiry “with heightened alarm” after the company failed to meaningfully respond to their initial request for information in August. The letter warns that if UnitedHealth fails to fully respond, the senators “will pursue answers to this critical inquiry using all tools at the Committee’s disposal.” (Emerson, 1/8)
