Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insurance CEOs In Capitol Hill Hot Seat Over Surging Health Care Costs
Modern Healthcare: Health Insurance CEOs To Face Daylong Grilling On Capitol Hill
Congress has agreed on little after a year of sparring over escalating healthcare costs and shrinking subsidies, with a notable exception: Big health insurance companies are not helping. On Thursday, the CEOs of five of major insurers will face a daylong grilling on Capitol Hill, where they will get to make their case before two separate House committees, and likely be targets for pent up anger from both sides of the aisle. (McAuliff and Tepper, 1/21)
More on health insurance costs and coverage —
The Hill: UHG Plans To Return ObamaCare Profits To ACA Members
UnitedHealth Group (UHG), the largest national health care provider in the U.S., is planning to return profits it makes in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace to consumers in 2026. CEO and Chair Stephen Hemsley is expected to announce the idea when he appears before a House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Thursday, according to a copy of his prepared testimony. (Brams, 1/21)
St. Louis Public Radio: SSM, UHC Reach Permanent Insurance Deal After Months Of Talks
SSM Health and UnitedHealthcare have signed a multiyear agreement to keep many of the insurance giant’s patients in network, representatives from the Creve Coeur-based health system announced this week. The long-term agreement follows a 30-day stopgap contract signed on Dec. 31. (Fentem, 1/21)
Modern Healthcare: Blue Cross Campaign Targets University Of Vermont Medical Center
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s provocative new marketing campaign points a finger at the state’s largest academic medical center for sending exchange premiums to the highest level in the nation. The nonprofit health insurance company partnered with Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans and three other independent providers. The “VT Affordable Care” blitz features newspaper advertisements, social media and a website that spells out the price differences for specific services at local providers compared to the University of Vermont Medical Center. (Tepper, 1/21)
KFF Health News and Gulf States Newsroom: Farmers Now Owe A Lot More For Health Insurance
Last year was a tough one for farmers. Amid falling prices for commodity crops such as corn and soybeans, rising input costs for supplies like fertilizer and seeds, as well as the Trump tariffs and the dismantling of USAID, many farms weren’t profitable last year. And now, the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that many Americans, including farmers, relied on to purchase health insurance are gone, having expired at the end of December. (Boden and Hawkins, 1/22)
What's in Congress' funding bill —
MedPage Today: Health Groups Pleased With Proposed NIH Budget In Bipartisan Funding Bill
Health groups praised many of the provisions in the joint House-Senate bill that would fund the NIH and several other agencies under HHS for fiscal year 2026. "Even in these challenging times, the bill increases the overall NIH budget and includes new protections to help the agency fulfill its lifesaving mission," Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America, a nonprofit science advocacy group, said in a statement. (Frieden, 1/21)
Fierce Healthcare: Congress Proposes Extensions For Virtual Care In Funding Bill
Medicare telehealth flexibilities and the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) program are teed up to receive multi-year extensions from Congress in its recently released funding package for the Department of Health and Human Services. The extensions would provide more certainty for the industry than it’s had since the end of 2022, when Congress extended Medicare telehealth and hospital-at-home for two years. Since the end of 2024—and President Donald Trump's election—providers and hospitals have faced a series of months-long virtual care extensions as Congress struggled to find a bipartisan solution to fund the government. (Beavins, 1/21)
Stat: NIH Funding Bill Contains Increased Budget For Cancer, Alzheimer's
Congressional appropriations committees offered a near-total rebuke of President Trump’s proposed downsizing and reshaping of the National Institutes of Health in their spending bill for the 2026 fiscal year. (Oza and Wosen, 1/20)
Politico: Congress’ Health Deal Still Has Hurdles
After months of fruitless negotiations to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that have since expired, congressional leaders announced Tuesday they’d notched a rare bipartisan win to overhaul other parts of the health care system. Now they just have to hold onto it. The agreement, attached to a government spending bill, would implement long-sought changes to the way pharmacy benefit managers operate, as well as extensions of public health programs and increased funding for community health centers. But even with strong support in both chambers, the bill faces significant hurdles. (King, Chu and Guggenheim, 1/22)
In related news about prescription drug costs —
Bloomberg: CVS Health May Have Violated Antitrust Laws, Republicans Say
CVS Health Corp. was accused by Republican lawmakers of possibly violating antitrust laws by discouraging independent pharmacies from working with third-party competitors. Republican and Democratic lawmakers, along with President Donald Trump, have been increasingly critical of health conglomerates, like CVS, which operate insurance companies, retail pharmacies, and drug benefit managers. Chief executive officers of CVS and other insurers will testify at a congressional hearing on Thursday. (Swetlitz, 1/21)
Modern Healthcare: FTC, Cigna Weigh Insulin Settlement
Cigna may be on the verge of striking a deal with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations it artificially raised insulin prices. The FTC has suspended its administrative case against the Evernorth Health Services, Express Scripts and Ascent Health Services parent company while it considers a settlement, the FTC disclosed in a legal filing Tuesday. (Tong, 1/21)
Fortune: Trump Says Europe Does One Thing Right: Drug Prices
President Donald Trump told an audience of thousands of executives and global leaders at the World Economic Forum that European countries have taken a turn for the worse. Trump said his friends who visit the continent tell him they don’t recognize the region—and “not in a positive way." (Rogelberg, 1/21)
