Trump, GOP Say Shutdown Must End, But ACA Subsidy Negotiations Can Wait
Neither side seems willing to budge on whether Obamacare tax credits should be extended. Republicans want to conduct those talks separately. Democrats insist their health care priority be addressed now, before insurers set market rates.
AP:
Trump Says He's Open To Shutdown Deal With Democrats
President Donald Trump cracked the door slightly to negotiations with Democrats on the health care subsidies they’ve made central to the shutdown fight, then abruptly closed it Monday, leaving the two sides once again at a seemingly intractable impasse. ... But Trump later followed up those comments on his social media site to reinforce what GOP leaders in Congress have been saying: The shutdown must end. And work on extending the enhanced tax credits for health insurance would take place separately. (Freking and Min Kim, 10/7)
The Hill:
Mike Johnson Says House Has Time To Negotiate Affordable Care Act Subsidies
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) argued Monday the end-of-year deadline to extend subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is an “eternity” away.“ We have effectively three months to negotiate. In the White House and in the halls of Congress, that’s like an eternity,” Johnson told MSNBC’s Ali Vitali. The subsidies ... expire at the end of December. But open enrollment in most states begins Nov. 1, and insurers could increase premiums if they anticipate the subsidies will expire. (Rego, 10/6)
The Hill:
Greene ‘Disgusted’ If Health Care Tax Credits Expire And Premiums Double
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) signaled a willingness to negotiate with Democrats on their health care demands, breaking with her party on an issue at the core of the government shutdown standoff. In a lengthy post on the social platform X, Greene said she’s “absolutely disgusted” that health insurance premiums could double if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expire, even as she stressed her strong opposition to the Obama-era legislation and to health insurance in general. (Fortinsky, 10/6)
Fierce Healthcare:
CMS Could Ease Rising ACA Premiums, But Only If Gov Reopens
The looming expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies is at the center of the ongoing government shutdown, with Republicans now pushing to reopen and negotiate a potential extension afterward. Mehmet Oz, M.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, echoed that sentiment in an appearance at the Aspen Institute on Monday afternoon, calling the government shutdown a "public health emergency." (Minemyer, 10/6)
KFF Health News:
Why Democrats Are Casting The Government Shutdown As A Health Care Showdown
Hours into the federal government shutdown, Julio Fuentes stood steps from the U.S. Capitol to deliver an urgent message about the Hispanic voting bloc that helped the GOP sweep into power last year. Those votes, he cautioned, are at risk if Congress doesn’t pass a law to preserve lower premiums on Affordable Care Act marketplace plans for the roughly 4.7 million people living in his home state of Florida who are enrolled in the coverage. (Seitz, 10/6)
On Medicaid and the uninsured —
San Francisco Chronicle:
Santa Clara, Calif., Voters Will Weigh Measure A, A Sales Tax Hike Billed As An Anti-Trump Move
Democrats are pitching California’s Nov. 4 special election as a means to oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda. But in Santa Clara County, voters will face an additional measure being sold the same way. Not only will voters there be asked to weigh Prop 50, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting plan — a direct response to a Trump-driven congressional map change in Texas meant to favor Republicans — but also whether to raise local sales taxes. That tax hike, county leaders say, is crucial to countering Trump’s Medicaid cuts that will affect Santa Clara’s public hospital system. (DiNatale, 10/6)
Texas Observer:
One Woman's Fight Against Texas' Medicaid Estate Recovery Program
Her mother had been in a nursing home paid for by Medicaid. Now, the state wanted its money back: “It was like wild animals pouncing on meat." (Poole, 10/6)
