The imminent deadline for government funding has put enhanced Obamacare tax credits in the limelight as Democrats seek to pressure Republicans into extending subsidies that have helped expand health insurance coverage.
The enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, passed during the COVID-19 pandemic, are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. But insurers are setting their rates now, and open enrollment for ACA plans begins Nov. 1.
“On this issue, we’re totally united. The Republicans have to come to meet with us in a true bipartisan negotiation to satisfy the American people’s needs on health care or they won’t get our votes, plain and simple,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) told reporters Thursday.
Some in the GOP are showing openness to an extension by year’s end.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said he is open to discussing legislation to extend the subsidies, but he said Democrats need to present them with a plan and not as part of a government funding deal.
Eleven GOP lawmakers have endorsed legislation extending the benefits for one year, punting the issue beyond the midterm elections. Most of them are vulnerable front-liners facing tough reelection contests.
According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, about 4 million people will drop out of ACA plans in the first year after the extra subsidies are discontinued. Those people are likely to be relatively young and healthy, leaving a pool of sicker, more expensive patients — leading to even higher premiums in subsequent years.
According to health research group KFF, premiums are expected to increase by more than 75 percent on average, with people in some states seeing their payments more than double.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tapped five new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) outside vaccine advisory panel, just days ahead of its next meeting. Kennedy in May fired every member of the panel and handpicked their replacements, most of whom have criticized coronavirus vaccines and other shots. The latest members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization …
About 1 in 6 parents have skipped or delayed vaccinating their children against diseases other than COVID-19 or the flu, according to a new poll from The Washington Post and health care policy nonprofit KFF. The poll’s findings show that 16 percent of parents are forgoing getting their children vaccinated for diseases other than COVID-19 or the flu, with white parents, Republicans, the religious and those homeschooling their …
States can begin applying Monday for their share of a $50 billion fund for rural health providers under the GOP’s tax and spending law, but they need to move quickly. The Trump administration has officially launched the window for states to submit a detailed application for the first tranche of the five-year fund created to help rural providers offset the cuts to Medicaid and other health programs contained in the tax cut law. …
The House Ways & Means oversight subcommittee holds a hearing Tuesday on tax-exempt hospitals.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is holding a hearing Wednesday on CDC oversight, featuring recently fired agency leaders.
The House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee holds a Thursday hearing on seniors’ access to breakthrough medical technologies.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices holds a two-day meeting Thursday and Friday.
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