Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Spending Bill Offers Band-Aid But Doesn't Extend ACA Subsidies
Modern Healthcare: House Spending Bill Sets Up Fight Over ACA Subsidies
House Republican leaders Tuesday unveiled a bill to keep government and key healthcare programs running through Nov. 21, but declined to heed calls to address expiring tax credits for federal marketplace insurance plans. The proposal emerged as Democrats complain Republicans have refused to negotiate with them at all. A growing number of Democrats have also said extending the enhanced tax credits under the Affordable Care Act of 2010 is a requirement for them to vote to keep government funded. (McAuliff, 9/16)
The Washington Post: The GOP Cut Parts Of Obamacare. Now It’s At The Center Of A Funding Fight.
Voters across the country are already beginning to feel the impact of the recent ACA rollbacks. They could also see their premiums rise when enhanced tax subsidies to purchase ACA marketplace insurance plans — which Democrats passed under President Joe Biden — expire at the end of the year. Insurers have already started sending notices to consumers that their premiums will rise significantly in 2026. Without the enhanced tax credits in place, ACA marketplace consumers’ out-of-pocket premium payments will rise by more than 75 percent on average, according to an analysis from KFF, a health policy research organization. (Abutaleb and Meyer, 9/17)
KFF Health News: Team Trump’s Answer To Ballooning Obamacare Premiums: Less Generous Coverage
Trump administration officials, looking at the possible impact of large insurance premium increases for millions of next year’s Obamacare customers, want more people to consider plans with less generous benefits and high deductibles. The agency that oversees the ACA announced early this month that it would expand eligibility for “catastrophic” plans sold in Affordable Care Act online marketplaces. The plans require people to spend more than $10,000 a year on deductibles before the policies pay most medical costs but carry lower monthly premiums than other Obamacare policies. (Appleby, 9/17)
In related news about federal funding cuts and the uninsured —
KFF Health News: Projected Surge In Uninsured Will Strain Local Health Systems
Jake Margo Jr. stood in the triage room at Starr County Memorial Hospital explaining why a person with persistent fever who could be treated with over-the-counter medication didn’t need to be admitted to the emergency room. “We’re going to take care of the sickest patients first,” Margo, a family medicine physician, said. (Whitehead and Rayasam, 9/17)
KFF Health News: Montana Advocates Worry About Federal Impacts On Support For Students With Disabilities
Tucker Jette lives for gaming, but like so many other recent high school graduates, he’s had to come to terms with the reality that he can’t make a living playing video games. And while he may not know yet exactly what he wants to do for a living, said Jette’s mother, Jessie Sather, he does know that earning money for a new computer to support his hobby is one of his top priorities as an 18-year-old preparing to step out on his own. (Sakariassen, 9/17)
KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Jackie Fortiér reads the week’s news: Federal cuts to food assistance could make it harder for families to stay healthy, and some health insurers are planning to reduce coverage of popular but expensive weight loss drugs. (9/16)
More news from Capitol Hill —
Fierce Healthcare: Nonprofit Hospitals' Community Benefits Face Lawmaker Scrutiny
Nonprofit hospitals weathered a broadside of criticism on their use of tax benefits and exploitation of “anticompetitive” regulations and policies during a Tuesday afternoon House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee hearing. Testimonies given to the Republican-led committee covered a broad swath of grievances with limited or conditional support for tax-exempt hospitals. (Muoio, 9/17)
MedPage Today: Prior Authorization Continues To Bedevil Congress
As congressional Democrats and Republicans battle over how to avert a potential government shutdown, another issue -- reining in prior authorizations -- remains on both parties' radar screens, although it's unclear whether anything will get done on the topic. The latest version of prior authorization legislation, known as the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act, was introduced in the House in May by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), and in the Senate by Sen. Roger Marshall, MD (R-Kansas). (Frieden, 9/16)
Politico: Trump Wants GOP Lawmakers To Embrace RFK Jr. They’re Having Trouble
President Donald Trump is betting that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA followers will matter more to Republicans in next year’s elections than people turned off by Kennedy’s vaccine policy moves. But not every Republican lawmaker who has to face the voters is so sure. (Levien and Paun, 9/16)
