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Americans’ reliance on government support is soaring, driven by programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. That support is especially critical in economically stressed communities throughout the U.S., many of which lean Republican and are concentrated in swing states crucial in deciding the presidential election. Neither party has much incentive to dial back the spending. The country hasn’t always been this reliant on government support. In 1970, government safety-net money accounted for significant income in fewer than 1% of America's counties, new research by the bipartisan think tank Economic Innovation Group finds. (Zitner, Kamp and McGill, 9/30)

Average premiums and benefits for Medicare's prescription drug program and private Medicare plans are projected to remain stable in 2025 with premiums slightly declining, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said on Friday. The premiums are of interest to consumers enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers who are then paid by the government, and the health plans themselves, who set premiums and benefits based on the reimbursement rates. (Aboulenein, 9/27)

The Biden administration on Friday announced that next year older Americans would face lower average monthly premiums for their prescription drugs, a feat achieved by pouring billions of dollars into subsidies for insurers. The move avoided a potential minefield of higher costs affecting the nation’s most stalwart voters weeks before the presidential election. In a savvy response to the specter of huge spikes in costs, administration officials decided months ago to funnel money from a Medicare trust fund to offset rate increases that could have cost millions of people hundreds of dollars more a year. (Robbins and Abelson, 9/27)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: The Medicare Advantage Influence Machine

Federal officials resolved more than a decade ago to crack down on whopping government overpayments to private Medicare Advantage health insurance plans, which were siphoning off billions of tax dollars every year. But Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials have yet to demand any refunds — and over the years the private insurance plans have morphed into a politically potent juggernaut that has signed up more than 33 million seniors and is aggressively lobbying to stave off cuts. (Schulte and Hacker, 9/30)

One day before Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) face off in the vice presidential debate, the Harris-Walz campaign has released a more than 40-page long report attacking the Trump-Vance health care plan, which the campaign says will “eliminate health insurance and raise costs for tens of millions of Americans.” “After nearly a decade of endlessly promising to reveal his health care plan, Donald Trump claims he only has ‘concepts of a plan.’ The truth is he does have a plan—he just doesn’t want voters to know about it,” the Harris-Walz campaign writes in the report.  (Roy, 9/30)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Journalists Weigh In On Racial Trauma, Medicaid Expansion, And Opioid Settlements

�鶹Ů�� Health News and California Healthline staffers made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (9/28)