Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump, GOP Say Shutdown Must End, But ACA Subsidy Negotiations Can Wait
President Donald Trump cracked the door slightly to negotiations with Democrats on the health care subsidies they鈥檝e 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)
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 鈥渆ternity鈥 away.鈥 We have effectively three months to negotiate. In the White House and in the halls of Congress, that鈥檚 like an eternity,鈥 Johnson told MSNBC鈥檚 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.聽(Rego, 10/6)
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鈥檚 鈥渁bsolutely disgusted鈥 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)
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)
麻豆女优 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鈥檛 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 鈥
Democrats are pitching California鈥檚 Nov. 4 special election as a means to oppose President Donald Trump鈥檚 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鈥檚 redistricting plan 鈥 a direct response to a Trump-driven congressional map change in Texas meant to favor Republicans 鈥 but also whether to raise local sales taxes. That tax hike, county leaders say, is crucial to countering Trump鈥檚 Medicaid cuts that will affect Santa Clara鈥檚 public hospital system. (DiNatale, 10/6)
Her mother had been in a nursing home paid for by Medicaid. Now, the state wanted its money back: 鈥淚t was like wild animals pouncing on meat." (Poole, 10/6)