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Tag: Affordable Care Act

  • Letters: Walnut Creek bike path plan doesn’t enhance safety

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    Bike-path gambit
    doesn’t enhance safety

    Re: “Safety debate at crossroads” (Page A1, Oct. 30).

    In a recent meeting held behind closed doors, Contra Costa County and the city of Walnut Creek agreed to use over $6 million in funds from programs designed to promote highway safety and improvements to carve out a three-block-long bicycle path on Treat Boulevard.

    The affected area runs from North Main St. to Jones Road, a stretch that currently handles over 40,000 vehicles a day. The proposed path duplicates the existing Canal Trail, which is dedicated to bikers and pedestrians, is located two blocks south of Treat Boulevard and connects directly to the Iron Horse Trail for access to the Pleasant Hill BART station.

    The city acknowledged both the high risk to bikers using the proposed paths and the negative impacts on traffic in this highly congested area. So, why is this project going forward?

    Larry McEwen
    Walnut Creek

    Opposing investment
    policy is out of step

    Re: “Ethical investment policy approved” (Page B1, Oct. 10).

    The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) came out in opposition to an Alameda County Ethical Investment Policy at the Oct. 3 Board of Supervisors meeting. The supervisors passed the policy but delayed implementation.

    The majority of Jews present at that meeting were mobilized by Jewish Voice for Peace and supported the policy.

    A September Washington Post poll found that the majority of U.S. Jews do not support current Israeli policies. The JCRC’s position of opposing a pro-human rights policy is not a mainstream position, and it is not aligned with Jewish values.

    The JCRC accused Israel’s critics of antisemitism and expressed concern about Jewish safety. Associating Jews with the acts of a murderous regime makes Jews less safe. Jews are safer in a world that works for all, including Palestinians.

    We urge the supervisors to implement the Ethical Investment Policy as soon as possible.

    Cynthia Kaufman
    Oakland

    California must go its
    own way on health care

    Re: “Policyholders brace for price increases” (Page A1, Nov. 22).

    The recent story harkens back to a pre-ACA time when people went without insurance because of the high costs of insurance premiums. What we need for California is a Cal-Care for all solution. However, this year, a Cal-Care bill was sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom, and he vetoed it. The main reason is that the federal government is not willing to give money that is due to us, which messes with the state budget.

    Staying in the United States is not beneficial to California. In 2022, we gave $83 billion to the federal government, which ends up getting redistributed to other states. The California National Party is the only party that recognizes this and has universal health care (Cal-Care, or Medi-Cal for all) as part of its platform.

    Maya Ram
    Union City

    Constitution will halt
    third term for Trump

    Re: “Don’t think Trump won’t try for third term” (Page A6, Nov. 18).

    A letter writer opined that President Trump could seek a third term as president by being vice president on a ticket headed by JD Vance, and, after Vance won the presidency, Vance could, by prearrangement, resign, and Trump would become president.

    However, the 12th Amendment of the Constitution stipulates that one who is constitutionally ineligible to be president is also ineligible to be vice president, which would presumably prevent Trump from becoming president under this subterfuge.

    Trump could argue that the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution prohibits him only from being “elected” — but not actually serving — as president for a third term. But the Supreme Court would likely reject this subterfuge on grounds that it conflicts with the plain intent of the 22nd amendment to prevent a person from serving a third term as president through the electoral process, as Franklin Roosevelt did in the 1930s.

    Roderick Walston
    Orinda

    Don’t cancel comic;
    just move it

    Re: “Don’t cancel comic for having an opinion” (Page A8, Nov. 23).

    I am one of the people who have written to request that “Mallard Fillmore” be moved to the Opinion Page, since it is clearly political in nature. I’m not asking that it be censored or removed from the paper, just that it be recognized as political opinion.

    In the past few days, “Mallard Fillmore” has implied that the media only looks for bad things about Donald Trump and twists the truth, that liberals are stealing our tax dollars to support their own political party, and only care about disease in an election year, and the media is hypocritically misleading us about the destruction of the White House East Wing. Meanwhile, “Pickles” taught Nelson to say I love you to his grandma, and “Luann” adopted a puppy. Which of these is not like the other?

    Incidentally, “Doonesbury” is offering more-than-20-year-old strips. That’s not a fair balance.

    Sampson Van Zandt
    Walnut Creek

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  • House Speaker Mike Johnson says House GOP does not want to extend health care subsidies: sources

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    The White House’s plan to draft an Affordable Care Act subsidies extension may have hit a snag. CBS News has confirmed that House Speaker Mike Johnson called senior Trump officials, telling them that most House Republicans have little interest in extending the tax subsidies once they expire at the end of the year. CBS News political reporter Hunter Woodall has more details.

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  • Senior citizens will pay a lot more for Medicare in 2026

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    (CNN) — Senior citizens are the latest group of Americans to face steep increases in their health insurance premiums for 2026.

    Medicare Part B premiums will jump nearly 10% next year, the largest increase in four years and second-largest hike, in dollar terms, in the program’s history. The standard monthly premium will be $202.90, an increase of $17.90 from this year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That will eat up nearly one-third of the $56 monthly Social Security cost-of-living adjustment that retirees will receive in 2026.

    The steep increase in premiums for Medicare Part B — which covers doctors’ visits, outpatient hospital services, medical equipment and drugs administered by physicians, among other services — comes at a time when health insurance premiums are rising sharply for those with job-based coverage and Affordable Care Act policies. This upward trend puts more pressure on Americans already struggling with affordability as the prices of food, utilities and other necessities remain stubbornly high.

    “In a world in which people are concerned about the affordability of health care and all other needs, it’s pretty distressing that this increase is so large,” said Jeanne Lambrew, director of health care reform at The Century Foundation.

    Increasing medical and pharmaceutical costs, as well as usage, are common drivers of the rise in health care premiums across coverage types.

    Medicare is also contending with the continuing wave of baby boomers becoming eligible to enroll, plus the ongoing shift toward surgeries and other medical services being performed at outpatient facilities, rather than in hospitals, where care is covered by Medicare Part A, said Rachel Schmidt, research professor at Georgetown University’s Medicare Policy Initiative.

    CMS noted that monthly premiums would have risen by another $11 had it not approved a change in payment for skin substitutes that the agency says will reduce spending by nearly 90% on the wound care products. Medicare shelled out more than $10 billion for these products last year, up from $256 million in 2019.

    Meanwhile, Medicare Part D prescription drug policies, which are offered by insurers, will see fewer changes for 2026 than they did for this year. The Biden administration had to rush last fall to stand up a multibillion-dollar subsidy program for insurers to prevent steep premium increases stemming from the Inflation Reduction Act. The law, which the Democrat-led Congress approved in 2022, required insurers to be on the hook for more of the drug costs once enrollees hit the catastrophic coverage phase above a $2,000 cap.

    The number of plans being offered for 2026 will decrease modestly, according to consulting firm Oliver Wyman, which noted that Elevance is exiting the market. Many insurers are hiking their premiums by as much as $50 for next year, though some are lowering them or holding them steady.

    “If seniors in the standalone PDP market are willing to shop, there is still stability,” said Brooks Conway, a principal at Oliver Wyman.

    Roughly 69 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare, which also covers people with disabilities. The annual open enrollment period ends December 7.

    Medicare Advantage market retrenches

    Medicare Advantage, which covers just over half of Medicare beneficiaries, is going through a second year of major changes. The overhaul is being spurred by medical costs outpacing reimbursements from the federal government, which pays insurers to offer coverage to Medicare enrollees.

    Many enrollees will have to search for new coverage for 2026 since the number of offerings is tumbling 10% to 3,373 plans, according to Oliver Wyman. Major insurers, including CVS Aetna, Elevance, Humana and UnitedHealthcare, are reducing their plan options in at least 100 counties. The changes are expected to affect just over 2 million people.

    (These figures do not include special needs plans that cater to enrollees with chronic conditions or those who are dually eligible for Medicaid. These plans will have more offerings for 2026 than they did this year.)

    In certain counties, there will be fewer policies offered with $0 premiums and fewer PPO plans, which have wider provider networks, said Greg Berger, a partner at Oliver Wyman. Insurers are primarily seeking to exit or scale back their less profitable products and geographic areas.

    “A lot of MAPD plans are trying not to grow,” Berger said, referring to Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage.

    And for the first time, some Americans will have no Medicare Advantage plans to choose from. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont and UnitedHealthcare decided to discontinue their coverage in the Green Mountain State, leaving traditional Medicare as the only option for residents in eight counties.

    Yet even with the pullbacks, most Medicare beneficiaries will have an array of options in 2026 — 39 plans, on average, down from 42 plans this year.

    “Millions of Medicare beneficiaries will continue to have access to a broad range of affordable coverage options in 2026,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, CMS’ administrator, said in a statement.

    Also, fewer plans will offer $0 deductibles for prescription drugs, while maximum out-of-pocket limits for medical care are rising $490, or about 10%, on average. Among Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage that have a monthly premium, the average premium will increase to $66 next year, up from $60 this year.

    What’s more, the supplemental benefits that Medicare Advantage offers enrollees, such as funds for over-the-counter medicines, dental care and vision services, are getting skimpier. The dental allowance, for instance, is declining 10% to $2,107, on average, Berger said.

    The current disruptions in the market, however, don’t mean that Medicare Advantage will continue to shrink. Over the longer term, the program is still an attractive market for insurers, Schmidt said.

    “It’s not going away any time soon,” she said.

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  • GOP Can’t Stop Touching Hot Stove of Obamacare Repeal

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    We’ve seen this movie before.
    Photo: Sid Hastings/Alamy Stock Photo

    The big miscalculation Democrats made in handling the recent government shutdown was their belief that Donald Trump could be induced to force an extension of soon-to-expire Obamacare premium subsidies on congressional Republicans as part of a deal to reopen the government. He never even agreed to negotiate on the subject. So instead, the booby prize Democrats won was a guaranteed Senate vote on the Obamacare subsidies by the second week in December (huge premium spikes already announced by most insurers will go into effect on January 1 if no action is taken). The House promised nothing, and the Senate pledge is vague enough as to be potentially meaningless if a workable deal isn’t crafted in advance.

    There is a possible deal that would combine a minimal (probably one-year) extension on the subsidies with so-called Republican reforms (e.g., cutting off benefits at some fixed income point, measures preventing fake beneficiaries, and perhaps some GOP policy baubles like enhanced health savings accounts). But as health-care-policy maven Jonathan Cohn observes, it’s unclear how much of an appetite there is for compromise:

    Compromise requires meeting somewhere in the middle and already some members of the GOP are doing the opposite — taking this new round of debate as a cue to dust off ideas that would roll back or repeal big pieces of Obamacare. And these efforts seem to have attracted the interest of Trump, who has been posting messages like “Obamacare Sucks” on social media.

    Any bill will need 60 votes, just like the measure to reopen the government. And it would have a prayer in the House only if it’s truly bipartisan and if Trump comes down hard on conservatives who would vote against the Second Coming of Christ if it were in any way connected with the 44th president and his legacy health-care program.

    Unfortunately for the roughly 42 million people who depend on Obamacare policies for their health insurance, the White House seems less interested in a compromise on subsidies than in replacing them and perhaps undermining the entire structure set up by the Affordable Care Act, as Politico reports:

    Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said Monday that he’d spent “a good part of the weekend with the White House” working on a plan to replace ACA subsidies with a new policy.

    “We have lots of great ideas,” Oz said on Fox News on Monday. “But I don’t want to show our cards. As the president often says, why would I telegraph to you what we are going to do? …”

    “We want a health care system where we pay the money to the people instead of the insurance companies and I tell you, we’re going to be working on that very hard over the next short period of time — where the people get the money,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday.

    As Cohn notes, this sort of talk is the kind of thing we heard from Trump and his party when they were unsuccessfully trying to kill Obamacare during the president’s first term:

    Conservatives have long argued the best way to reform health care is by giving people more control over their health care dollars, which typically means scaling back insurance so that it covers only catastrophic expenses, and then having people pay for everything else out of their own pockets using money they’ve put into private accounts that get some kind of government assistance.

    Past versions of these proposals have, upon inspection, looked more like vehicles to give wealthy people a tax break. They have diverted money into broker and management fees. And as a practical matter, they have threatened to do what many other conservative proposals would — namely, to break up insurance pools so that people who are in good health spend less, while those who need medical care spend more.

    In other words, Republicans would prefer to return to the days of widespread age and health-condition discrimination by insurers and then encourage people to rely less on insurance to begin with. Many health experts warn that this approach would encourage younger and healthier people to bail out of risk pools and leave their less fortunate fellow citizens with reduced coverage at higher costs.

    If this is the direction Trump and the GOP are headed, there won’t be any feasible bipartisan deal in Congress in December — or at the next pressure point, January 30, when the current government-reopening measure expires. That might be why some Republicans have talked about abandoning bipartisanship altogether and pursuing another budget-reconciliation bill (like the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Act) to “reform” health care and achieve some other GOP legislative priorities on simple party-line votes. Trump himself, of course, would prefer to just “nuke” the filibuster and let Senate Republicans do whatever they want on health care or anything else they choose to address. Since that seems unlikely, we could enter a time machine to go back to 2017, when Republicans tried and failed to use reconciliation to “repeal and replace Obamacare.” Indeed, in a recent interview with Laura Ingraham, the president himself referred to Trumpcare — the term used generally for his repeal-and-replace legislation — for his vision of an improved health-care system.

    You get the sense listening to the president and his supporters that they are mostly focused on finding some rhetoric to show interest in the affordability concerns that are depressing Trump’s job-approval ratings and threatening GOP plans for the midterms. If that’s all Republicans care about, it’s very bad news for people losing health coverage, because they can’t afford the insurance that’s been keeping them alive.


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    Ed Kilgore

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  • Failure to extend ACA tax credits in government funding package leaves millions in limbo, experts say

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    The cost of health care remains in limbo for roughly 22 million Americans after the U.S. government reopened late Wednesday without a deal to extend an expiring federal tax credit that offsets the cost of some Affordable Care Act plans.

    The fate of the enhanced premium tax credit had been at the center of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history as Democrats pushed Republicans to extend the subsidy in order to reopen the government.

    Seven Democratic senators and one independent who caucuses with Democrats voted late Sunday with Republican senators to end the shutdown without resolving the future of the tax credit. 

    On Wednesday, the House passed a funding package — also without an extension of the tax credits — to end the 43-day shutdown in a 222 to 209 vote. Six Democrats voted with Republicans to send the bill to President Trump, who signed the legislation later the same evening. 

    While Senate Republicans have agreed to hold a vote on extending the ACA tax credits by mid-December, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise on Wednesday said he wouldn’t commit to such a plan. 

    Americans are now choosing their 2026 health plans on the ACA’s online marketplaces, and without congressional action, the tax credits will expire Dec. 31.

    “A lot of people are sort of in this limbo state where they have to buy their insurance for next year, but they really don’t know how this is going to shake out at the federal level,” Emma Wager, a senior policy analyst at nonprofit health policy site KFF, told CBS News.

    What happens without an extension?

    Without any action on Congress’s part, the enhanced premium tax credits, which were introduced in 2021 through the American Rescue Plan Act, will disappear at the end of 2025.

    That means low- and middle-income households that previously qualified for the tax credits would likely see their ACA premiums more than double next year, rising from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026, according to a KFF analysis.

    Faced with higher costs for ACA insurance, about 4 million people are likely to drop their health coverage, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated. 

    “Americans are really just seeing how expensive health care is in this country, and it’s just completely unaffordable for a lot of people to pay their own entire health insurance premium,” Wager said.

    Currently, the enhanced ACA premium tax credit is available for people who earn between 100% to 400% of the poverty level, which sets the upper threshold at $62,000 for an individual, according to KFF. However, some Americans who earn above that 400% benchmark can qualify for the tax credit if their insurance rates exceed 8.5% of their income.

    Three-quarters of Americans favor renewing the subsidies, according to recent KFF polling. That includes 94% of Democrats and about half of Republicans.

    If Congress renews the subsidies, federal and state marketplaces would need to retool the 2026 plans already available to consumers. It’s possible a new plan could be made retroactive to January 2026, even if it’s passed later in the year, Wager said. 

    “At that point, people are sort of locked in on whatever plan they chose, but they can retroactively receive the tax credit,” she noted.

    Are there other options from Congress?

    Congress could pursue other ways to make health coverage more affordable. On Saturday, President Trump called for sending the money saved by not extending the tax subsidies “directly to the people.” On his Truth Social platform, he criticized the ACA and said Americans should be able to use the savings to purchase other kinds of insurance.

    “In other words, take from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people, and terminate, per Dollar spent, the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World, ObamaCare,” he wrote.

    Wager said it remains to be seen if Mr. Trump’s plan is feasible, saying “we haven’t seen a concrete enough proposal at this point.”

    Some lawmakers have offered similar proposals, such as Senate Health Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana. In a floor speech last week, he said eligible Americans could be sent “a pre-funded federal flexible spending account” to use for health expenses, from dental care to prescription drugs and preventive services.

    In the meantime, as 2026 approaches and the future of the enhanced premium tax credit remains unclear, enrollees should consider speaking with a health insurance expert to get advice on their options, Wager advised.

    “The most important thing that you can do is talk to somebody — an agent, broker or a navigator — who can help you make sure that you really understand what your options are and that you get the best plan for your financial situation and your health care situation,” she said.

    Edited by

    Alain Sherter

    The Associated Press

    contributed to this report.

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  • President Trump signs bill to reopen government, ending longest shutdown in US history

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    (CNN) — President Donald Trump late Wednesday signed a funding package to reopen the federal government, officially bringing a close to the longest shutdown in history.

    The final approval came hours after the House voted 222 to 209 to pass a deal struck between Republicans and centrist Senate Democrats that keeps the government running through January and ensures some key agencies will be funded for the remainder of fiscal year 2026.

    The agreement, which ended a record 43-day stalemate in Congress, will also reverse the mass federal layoffs carried out by Trump during the shutdown. It paves the way for paychecks to flow to government employees, as well as the resumption of critical food and nutrition services relied on by tens of millions of Americans.

    Trump on Wednesday night cast the legislation as a victory over Democrats, calling it “a clear message that we will never give in to extortion, because that’s what it was, they tried to extort.”

    “They didn’t want to do it the easy way,” he said from the Oval Office, attacking what he called “the extremists” in the Democratic Party. “They had to do it the hard way, and they look very bad.”

    The White House signing ceremony was attended by a range of Republican lawmakers and capped a four-day sprint to pass the funding bill, after eight Senate Democrats broke ranks to compromise with Republicans amid worries about the shutdown’s widening economic consequences.

    The deal guarantees an early December vote in the Senate on the expiring Obamacare subsidies that Democrats made the focus of their demands during the shutdown fight. But a vote to extend the subsidies is unlikely to succeed, a likelihood that’s driven intense blowback across the Democratic Party.

    Most congressional Democrats loudly protested the bill in the run-up to Wednesday’s vote over concerns Americans’ health care premiums will skyrocket without the subsidies, with only six House Democrats voting in favor of the package.

    “This fight is not over. We’re just getting started,” top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said ahead of the vote. “Tens of millions of Americans are at risk of being unable to afford to go see a doctor when they need it.”

    Back in Washington for the first time since mid-September, Speaker Mike Johnson corralled almost all Republicans behind the bill, despite sharp complaints from some of his members over a contentious provision added by Senate Republicans that allowed senators to retroactively sue the Department of Justice for obtaining phone records during a Biden-era probe – potentially amounting to a major financial windfall for those lawmakers.

    Johnson himself said he was blindsided by the language, and he said he didn’t know about it until the Senate had already passed the package.

    “I was shocked by it, I was angry about it,” the speaker said, though he added that he did not believe Senate Majority Leader John Thune added it in a nefarious manner. “I think it was a really bad look, and we’re going to fix it in the House.”

    To win over conservative holdouts, Johnson vowed that the House would take a future vote to strip that language — though it’s unclear if the Senate would take it up. Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas ultimately agreed not to amend the language in the current stopgap bill, since it would require the Senate to return to Washington to vote again and delay the end of the shutdown.

    Conservatives like Roy had blasted that provision as “self-dealing,” since it would award senators $500,000 or more in damages for each violation by the government if their lawsuit is successful. The amendment appeared to benefit eight senators in particular who had been subpoenaed by the previous administration into investigations into Trump’s first term.

    Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations panel, accused those eight senators of voting “to shove taxpayer dollars into their own pockets – $500,000 for each time their records were inspected.”

    The House Democrats who voted in favor of the compromise bill to reopen the government were: Reps. Jared Golden, Adam Gray, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Henry Cuellar, Tom Suozzi and Don Davis. GOP Reps. Thomas Massie voted and Greg Steube against the bill.

    The end of the government shutdown will usher in a frenetic few weeks of work for the House, which has been largely shuttered since late September. As part of the GOP’s pressure campaign on Democrats, Johnson had decided to keep all members out of Washington until Senate Democrats agreed to back the GOP’s existing funding plan.

    Now, Republicans and Democrats have just four weeks in session before the end of the year — when those Obamacare tax credits expire. Trump has called for revamping the law rather than extending the existing subsidies, setting up a high-stakes showdown over health care that could carry political ramifications for next year’s midterm elections.

    “Obamacare was a disaster,” Trump said Wednesday night. “We’ll work on something having to do with health care. We can do a lot better.”

    But there are plenty of other deadlines, including Congress’ farm bill and a slew of expiring energy credits.

    House Republicans are also eager to pass as many spending bills as possible to improve their negotiating stance with the Senate ahead of that next deadline on January 30.

    Johnson also faces another hot-button issue: the question of how Congress should handle the Jeffrey Epstein files.

    Not long before the votes to reopen the government got underway, a newly elected Democrat — Rep. Adelita Grijalva — became the critical 218th signature to force a vote to compel the Justice Department to release all of its case files related to Epstein.

    Johnson announced to reporters soon after Grijalva signed the petition that he will put a bill compelling the Department of Justice to release all of its Epstein case files on the House floor next week – earlier than expected, and after an extraordinary White House pressure campaign earlier Wednesday failed to convince any Republicans to remove their name from the petition.

    The effort coincided with intensifying scrutiny over the Epstein files in the House. Earlier Wednesday, House Democrats on the Oversight panel released new emails that showed Epstein had repeatedly mentioned Trump by name in private correspondence, and then the GOP-led committee released 200,000 pages of documents the panel received from Epstein’s estate.

    This headline and story have been updated with additional details.

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    Sarah Ferris and CNN

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  • Hakeem Jeffries blames Trump and Republicans for government shutdown before House vote

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    Hakeem Jeffries blames Trump and Republicans for government shutdown before House vote – CBS News










































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    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke as the House debated the Senate’s version of a bill to fund the government and end the shutdown.

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  • Senate votes to end government shutdown, sending funding bill to the House

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    (CNN) — A small band of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans on Monday night to approve a funding measure to reopen the federal government — without securing their party’s demand to guarantee an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which help millions of Americans afford insurance.

    The funding compromise will now go to the House, where GOP leaders are hopeful it could pass as soon as Wednesday and end the longest-ever US shutdown. The recently struck deal, which President Donald Trump is expected to sign, would restore critical services like federal food aid, as well as pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

    Eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus crossed the aisle to join with Republicans in the 60 to 40 vote. One Republican voted in opposition: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

    That shutdown has been politically painful on Capitol Hill. Republicans have repeatedly shouldered blame in recent polling for the funding lapse. And the deal, struck by Democratic centrists in the Senate, has ignited a fight within the party about its strategy in the already 41-day funding fight — and where they go next.

    Most Democrats were eager to keep fighting even as centrists declared that with Trump dug in, there was no real chance of securing policy wins on health care. Instead, those centrists secured the promise of a future vote on a health care bill of their choosing, which Democrats are determined to win GOP support on. It is far from guaranteed, however, that the bill will survive the Senate, let alone the House.

    The vote late Monday night caps a frenetic few days of negotiations inside the US Capitol, with quiet negotiations between the Senate centrists, GOP leaders and the White House throughout the weekend before formally unveiling their deal on Sunday. A bloc of eight members of the Democratic caucus took a critical first step to support that measure Sunday night, and all eight gave it final approval on Monday night.

    Those eight lawmakers were: Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, Jacky Rosen and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

    While he did not vote for the final deal, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has drawn fury from the party’s left for allowing those centrists to strike the deal without any real wins on the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will soon expire and hike premiums for millions of Americans.

    Many Democrats in both chambers believe the party will be forced to relive the fight again on January 30, when the next tranche of funding runs out. The broader legislative package, however, would fund several key agencies, including ones that run federal food aid, as well as the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, and veterans programs, through the remainder of fiscal year 2026.

    The floor of the US Senate is seen here on November 10. Credit: Senate TV via CNN Newsource

    Now, attention will turn to House Speaker Mike Johnson and members of the House, who are making their way to Washington after being in their districts since mid-September.

    The House plans to vote on the Senate-passed bill to reopen the federal government as early as 4 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer. The notice forecasts multiple votes that day.

    The Republican speaker is likely to need the president’s help to muscle the package through his fractious conference in the coming days. But in an optimistic sign Monday, Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “I would say so” when asked if he personally approved of the deal making its way through the process on Capitol Hill.

    “I think, based on everything I’m hearing, they haven’t changed anything, and we have support from enough Democrats, and we’re going to be opening up our country,” Trump said. “It’s too bad it was closed, but we’ll be opening up our country very quickly.”

    CNN’s Ellis Kim contributed to this report.

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    Sarah Ferris, Morgan Rimmer and CNN

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  • Senate advances deal to reopen government after centrist Democrats strike major deal to end shutdown

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    (CNN) — A critical bloc of eight Senate Democratic centrists on Sunday helped advance a funding deal to reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care subsidies, putting Congress on a path to end the longest shutdown in US history within days.

    That deal would include a new stopgap measure to extend government funding until January and be tied to a larger package to fully fund several key agencies. It includes no guarantee from Republicans to extend the health care subsidies that have been at the heart of the funding fight.

    What Democrats did secure is a future vote on the matter. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the chamber floor Sunday that he will hold a vote on a measure to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits by the middle of next month. Democrats involved in the talks believe that will give enough time for House and Senate GOP leaders to negotiate a true compromise in the coming weeks, though it would be a major lift to get through a Republican-controlled Congress.

    Despite the outrage from the rest of the Senate Democratic Caucus, GOP leaders are determined to move the funding measure quickly through Congress and to President Donald Trump’s desk in the coming days. Once Trump has signed it into law, it’s still not clear how quickly agencies can restore services for the tens of millions of Americans facing shutdown pain, from the loss of federal food aid to child care closures to delayed paychecks. Senate GOP leaders have not yet scheduled a final passage vote.

    “I am optimistic that after almost six weeks of this shutdown, we’ll finally be able to end it,” Thune declared from the Senate floor on Day 40 of the funding lapse.

    An exasperated Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado voted no on the deal but argued that his colleagues who supported it did not “cave” and instead were doing “what they feel is helping the most number of people.”

    “There’s no good solution,” Hickenlooper said, adding that some of his colleagues believe Trump will “stop at nothing to prevent that subsidy from being restored.” He added: “I voted no just because … piss off, I’m just frustrated. We tried it and now we’re going to use every other tool. We’re not going to quit.”

    Once the Senate has given final approval to the funding measure, it heads to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson must muscle the deal through a fractious GOP conference — likely with help from Trump himself. It’s not yet clear how many House Democrats will help Johnson with that job.

    Behind the scenes, Senate Democrats who backed the deal to reopen the government say Trump’s increasing opposition in recent days to extending the Obamacare subsidies forced them to change their position and accept a compromise to end an indefinite government shutdown, according to sources familiar with their thinking.

    They believe that Democrats have an upper hand on the issue of health care and that a separate health care vote will spotlight the differences between the two parties, even though it has little chance of becoming law. And they’re not ruling out another shutdown showdown in January, when the next tranche of funding expires (though critical programs such as food aid and WIC will already be funded, to lessen the pain for millions of Americans).

    Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a retiring Democrat from New Hampshire, said Republicans made clear repeatedly over recent months that “this was the only deal on the table.”

    “Now I understand that not all of my Democratic colleagues are satisfied with this agreement, but waiting another week or another month wouldn’t deliver a better outcome.”

    Asked whether Democrats would willing to vote down the next funding measure on January 30 if Congress fails to deliver a health care fix by then, Shaheen said: “That’s certainly an option that everybody will consider.”

    The deal, which has been in the works for the last five weeks, came together between three former governors — Shaheen of New Hampshire, Angus King of Maine and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire — along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House. Details of the deal were first reported by CNN.

    One of those Democrats involved is Sen. Tim Kaine, who represents thousands of federal workers in Virginia and who said he supports the GOP’s promise for a future vote on the subsidies.

    “Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will,” Kaine said of GOP senators who choose not to support extending the subsidies.

    And importantly for Kaine, Democrats also secured an agreement from the White House to reverse its mass firings of federal workers during the shutdown, as well as protections against them happening the rest of this fiscal year. It also guarantees all federal workers will be paid for time during the shutdown.

    But inside the Democratic Party, the funding deal has exposed a deep divide. Liberal senators were fuming at their colleagues for backing the deal, with House Democratic leaders vowing to “fight” the deal in the House.

    Senate Democratic leadership was split on the vote, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer opposing the deal while his No. 2, retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, supported it.

    But some liberal senators have fiercely opposed the plan, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

    “For me, it’s no deal without health care,” Blumenthal said, voicing a widespread sentiment in the Democratic caucus. “So far as I’m concerned, health care isn’t included, and so I’ll be a no.”

    Even some centrist-leaning Democrats, like Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, voiced concerns with the idea on Sunday night.

    “I was involved for many weeks, and then over the last couple of weeks, it changed — last week it changed,” Slotkin said, noting that she was no longer involved in talks in recent days. “But I always said, like, it’s got to do something concrete on health care, and it’s hard to see how that happened.”

    Across the Capitol, House Democratic leaders sharply condemned the deal. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his caucus “will not support spending legislation advanced by Senate Republicans that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” adding: “We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives.”

    One member, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, took to X on Sunday night calling for Schumer to be replaced. “Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” Khanna wrote.

    House Democrats plan to have their own caucus huddle on Monday, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

    The broader legislative package would include three full-year appropriations bills that deal with military construction and veterans affairs, the legislative branch and the Department of Agriculture. That includes $203.5 million in new funding to enhance security measures and protection for members of Congress in addition to $852 million for US Capitol Police, per a summary of the bill to fund the legislative branch provided by top Democratic appropriator Sen. Patty Murray.

    The next step after Sunday night’s vote is a vote on the full measure, which includes the larger funding package negotiated between the two parties and a stopgap through January 30.

    The Senate would first vote to take up the House-passed stopgap measure, which means eight Democrats would need to support it for it to advance. Then, the Senate would amend that bill with the larger funding package negotiated between the two parties.

    Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who has voted on the GOP funding plan throughout the shutdown and criticized his own party’s stance, said Sunday that it is time to ”take the win.”

    Vote yes, he said, “and then we can find a way to lower our costs about health care.”

    This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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    Manu Raju, Ted Barrett, Alison Main, Sarah Ferris and CNN

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  • Still grappling with pandemic changes, hospitals face uncertain future with funding cuts

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    Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought fear, anxiety and uncertainty to hospitals across the nation. Grappling with sudden financial, medical and cultural shifts, regional health care leaders found themselves stuck at the precipice of how to save lives while…

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    CHRISTY AVERY christy.avery@newsandtribune.com

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  • Still grappling with pandemic changes, hospitals face uncertain future with funding cuts

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    Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought fear, anxiety and uncertainty to hospitals across the nation. Grappling with sudden financial, medical and cultural shifts, regional health care leaders found themselves stuck at the precipice of how to save lives while…

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    CHRISTY AVERY christy.avery@newsandtribune.com

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  • Still grappling with pandemic changes, hospitals face uncertain future with funding cuts

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    Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought fear, anxiety and uncertainty to hospitals across the nation. Grappling with sudden financial, medical and cultural shifts, regional health care leaders found themselves stuck at the precipice of how to save lives while…

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    CHRISTY AVERY christy.avery@newsandtribune.com

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  • President Trump urges Republicans to reopen government as shutdown marks longest in US history

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    The government shutdown has reached its 36th day, the longest in U.S. history, as President Donald Trump pressures Republicans to end the Senate filibuster in order to reopen the government.”It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that’s terminate the filibuster. It’s the only way you can do it,” Trump told senators Wednesday at the White House.The filibuster is a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. Ending the filibuster would allow Republicans to pass a bill with a simple majority, but several Republicans warn that when Democrats are in power, they’d be able to do the same thing. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after breakfast at the White House, “It’s just not happening.”The president also said the shutdown was a “big factor, negative” in Tuesday’s election results.”Countless public servants are now not being paid and the air traffic control system is under increasing strain. We must get the government back open soon and really immediately,” Trump said.The shutdown is hitting home for many Americans, with lines stretching at food banks across the country as SNAP benefits are delayed and reduced for more than 40 million Americans. After-school programs that depend on federal dollars are closing. The Transportation Secretary said, starting Friday, there will be a 10% reduction in flights at 40 airports across the country.Republicans have pushed to reopen the government with a short-term spending bill. Democrats have rejected those bills, arguing that Republicans are leaving out a key provision: restoring expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that help millions of Americans lower their health-insurance costs. Democrats say passing a short-term bill without those subsidies would leave families facing sudden premium spikes.”The election results ought to send a much needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “The American people have spoken last night. End the shutdown, end the healthcare crisis, sit down and talk with us.”Republicans have said they’re willing to negotiate ACA subsidies, but only after the shutdown is over.See more government shutdown coverage from the Washington News Bureau:

    WASHINGTON —

    The government shutdown has reached its 36th day, the longest in U.S. history, as President Donald Trump pressures Republicans to end the Senate filibuster in order to reopen the government.

    “It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that’s terminate the filibuster. It’s the only way you can do it,” Trump told senators Wednesday at the White House.

    The filibuster is a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. Ending the filibuster would allow Republicans to pass a bill with a simple majority, but several Republicans warn that when Democrats are in power, they’d be able to do the same thing.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after breakfast at the White House, “It’s just not happening.”

    The president also said the shutdown was a “big factor, negative” in Tuesday’s election results.

    “Countless public servants are now not being paid and the air traffic control system is under increasing strain. We must get the government back open soon and really immediately,” Trump said.

    The shutdown is hitting home for many Americans, with lines stretching at food banks across the country as SNAP benefits are delayed and reduced for more than 40 million Americans. After-school programs that depend on federal dollars are closing.

    The Transportation Secretary said, starting Friday, there will be a 10% reduction in flights at 40 airports across the country.

    Republicans have pushed to reopen the government with a short-term spending bill. Democrats have rejected those bills, arguing that Republicans are leaving out a key provision: restoring expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that help millions of Americans lower their health-insurance costs. Democrats say passing a short-term bill without those subsidies would leave families facing sudden premium spikes.

    “The election results ought to send a much needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “The American people have spoken last night. End the shutdown, end the healthcare crisis, sit down and talk with us.”

    Republicans have said they’re willing to negotiate ACA subsidies, but only after the shutdown is over.

    See more government shutdown coverage from the Washington News Bureau:

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  • Floridians get a preview of skyrocketing healthcare premiums as Democrats hold the line

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    Nathan Boye, a father of three from Orlando, doesn’t usually like being in the spotlight. “But I’ve been told my story matters,” he told reporters at a press conference Monday. See, Boye is currently enrolled in a health insurance plan he bought through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, like roughly 4.7 million others in Florida and upward of 24 million Americans nationwide. 

    It’s more affordable for him than employer-provided insurance, currently costing just $28 a month. As someone living with diabetes, a chronic and potentially life-threatening illness, Boye relies on health insurance that’s affordable in order to maintain access to the medications he needs to stay alive. “To be blunt,” he explained, with a shrug.

    But that could change very soon, if the ACA tax credits that are currently at the center of a federal funding showdown expire at the end of the year. Boye showed reporters a letter he received from his insurance provider Florida Blue over the weekend, warning him of upcoming changes to his health plan.

    If he keeps the same health plan that he currently pays $28 per month for, in a couple of months’ time, his monthly premium could skyrocket to more than $700, according to the letter. “I’m going to be forced to make impossible choices that, I mean, essentially means that I could survive another day,” said Boye. “No family should have to face that.”

    Nathan Boye, a father of three with diabetes, speaks at a press conference organized by Congressman Maxwell Frost on expiring ACA tax credits and the government shutdown. (Nov. 3, 2025) Credit: McKenna Schueler

    Boye spoke at a press conference organized by U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Orlando, who has for weeks called on U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to summon House members back to Washington, D.C., so they can negotiate a funding agreement on healthcare like adults. 

    “We can even step away from the policy disagreement or agreement, just talk about the fact that Congress has been out of session for over 40 days. … We don’t even have to talk about blame,” said Frost, referring to the consistent finger-pointing that has taken place between Republicans and Democrats.

    Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has argued it’s in Senate Democrats’ hands to reach a deal on federal funding and allow the government to reopen. Frost believes that line of thinking “makes zero sense.”

    “Mike Johnson says the House of Representatives will not go to work until the government opens. The government will not open unless we go to work to open up the government,” Frost said. “I mean, it makes absolutely zero sense.” His far-right colleague, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, has similarly called Johnson’s failure to bring them back to work “embarrassing.”

    “I have no problem pointing fingers at everyone. And the worst thing that I, that I just can’t get over, is we’re not working right now. And I put that criticism directly on the speaker of the House,” Greene said during an appearance on ABC News program The View.

    According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank, an estimated 93 percent of Americans who buy insurance through the ACA marketplace — roughly 22 million — currently benefit from these enhanced tax credits that are set to expire at the end of 2025. 

    Without those tax credits, health insurance costs for ACA plans (also known as Obamacare) are expected to go up hundreds or even thousands of dollars for low- and middle-income earners per year, just in premiums alone. The Orlando Sentinel reported over the weekend that locals like Boye are already getting “sticker shock” from health insurance renewal letters they’re receiving in the mail.

    Eric Rollings, another Orlando local who’s self-employed (and the former chair of the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District board), told reporters Monday that he faces a roughly 113 percent healthcare premium hike to his Florida Blue health plan — from $581.25 per month to $1,238.97 per month come Jan. 1. “Just six weeks ago, I joined 1.2 million people who have received a heart stent in the past year. I don’t have an option to go without insurance,” he said.

    The medication his doctor prescribes for him, a common medication for those who have gone through a heart stent procedure, is “essential,” but costs over $2,600 a month for a 180-day supply without insurance.

    “I think that this is a really insane and hurtful increase,” Rollings admitted. “And for me, for my friends that own businesses and restaurants, I want to apologize in advance, because I’m probably not going to be able to see you, at least for the time being, because I don’t know where this is going.”

    Eric Rollings, a constituent of Congressman Maxwell Frost, faces a 113% healthcare premium spike next year if ACA tax credits expire. Credit: McKenna Schueler

    The federal government shutdown that has highlighted this sharp rise in healthcare premiums began Oct. 1 and is on its way to becoming the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The ACA enhanced tax credits at stake were first established in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and reportedly spurred a significant increase in the number of people enrolled in health insurance.

    Healthcare advocates have warned that, if the tax credits do expire, an estimated 4 to 5 million Americans will lose coverage in 2026, due to unaffordability. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” enacted in July, already started “the destruction of our healthcare system,” Frost shared, referring to the millions of Americans who are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage over the next decade, plus the legislation’s anticipated impacts on nursing homes, hospitals and community health centers.

    Rising health insurance costs also come amid an ongoing affordability crisis, said State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, who also joined Frost’s press conference. 

    Smith has filed legislation for consideration by Florida lawmakers in 2026 that would cap insulin costs at $35 per month — something a growing number of states have already done — and guarantee 12 weeks of paid parental leave for state employees, if passed. Rental costs in Orange County are also up at least 30 percent since 2020, and lawmakers have filed a slew of bills that aim to address homeowners’ property insurance woes this next year, too.

    “These [ACA] subsidies have been a lifeline to these families,” said Smith. He also renewed Florida Democrats’ call for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to tap into emergency state funding to provide food assistance for Florida’s nearly 3 million SNAP recipients. 

    Benefits for the federal Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, sometimes called “food stamps,” have been frozen this month as the USDA claims that funding for the program has run out.

    And while the Trump administration has been ordered by a federal judge to tap into its own contingency funds to fund SNAP during the government shutdown, the administration has only agreed to pay up to 50 percent of benefits for households, and it’s still unclear when that will actually trickle down to Florida’s recipients.

    Local hunger relief organizations like Second Harvest Food Bank and United Against Poverty are currently scrambling to pick up the slack.

    “Under state law, [DeSantis] can declare a state of emergency on food insecurity, and he can tap into the nearly $5 billion of our state’s rainy day fund to temporarily cover the cost of SNAP benefits that are not currently available,” Smith said. DeSantis has renewed a state of emergency on immigration over a dozen times, and Smith said the governor should recognize the same urgency here, too.

    “When he renewed that state — so-called ‘state of emergency’ — he tapped into over $300 million in public money to build the Everglades detention camp that they called Alligator Alcatraz,” Smith pointed out. “Why can’t he declare a state of emergency on food insecurity to make sure that children across the state of Florida are fed?” He asked. “It is about priorities.”

    DeSantis has rejected Democrats’ calls to declare a state of emergency over the issue. However, on Monday, DeSantis did vaguely commit to mobilizing the state agriculture department to assist in food aid, without providing specifics on how that would work. 

    Florida Democrats on Tuesday, meanwhile, renewed their call for the Republican governor, pointing to the recent action taken by the Trump administration to commit half.

    “Now that the courts have ordered Washington to pay half of SNAP benefits, the governor has even less of an excuse to ignore our calls for a State of Emergency on food insecurity,” said Senate Democratic leader Lori Berman in a statement.

    “Ron DeSantis has always been more concerned with what’s going on in Washington than how he can help the people of Florida,” she added. “He should join us in being more worried about what he can actually control — keeping Florida’s families fed. Now he can do it at half the price.”

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    The debt relief initiative, made possible through funds from the Biden administration, has relieved medical debt for 302,000 people.

    Nearly 3 million people are expected to lose access to the federal food assistance program

    Florida has the fourth largest SNAP enrollment nationwide with 2.94 million relying on the assistance for food security



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    McKenna Schueler
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  • Some Americans are getting sticker shock as they shop for Affordable Care Act insurance

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    The Affordable Care Act marketplaces opened for enrollment on Nov. 1, with the average premium for a mid-level insurance plan surging 26% this year to $625 per month, according to nonprofit health research firm KFF. 

    That jump — the biggest increase in ACA plan rates since 2018 — is causing sticker shock for some people who rely on the program for health insurance coverage.

    “I’ve been hearing stories about the price increases, so I’ve been dreading this week,” Jeremy Tolbert, a 47-year-old web developer in Lawrence, Kansas, told CBS News. When he logged into his state’s marketplace, he was dismayed to find out that his current plan’s monthly premium is set to rise to $2,600 a month next year, up from $2,200 a month in 2025. 

    That doesn’t include higher cost-sharing for his family, such as a larger out-of-pocket maximum for 2026, meaning he’s facing higher costs on both ends for the same coverage for himself, his wife and their 11-year-old son.

    “I already pay a significant portion of my income for this insurance,” he noted. “What the hell am I paying for at this point?”

    Roughly 24 million Americans get their health insurance through an ACA plan.

    The 26% premium hike for so-called ACA silver plans reflects what insurers are charging consumers buying plans via the marketplaces. Millions of Americans currently pay below the ACA’s market rates because of premium tax credits, KFF said. Those credits are set to expire at the end of 2025 — a looming deadline that has contributed to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, as Democratic lawmakers push for Republicans to agree to an extension.

    The roughly 22 million people who currently rely on the premium tax credits could see their ACA plan costs more than double in 2026, KFF estimates. 

    Even those who don’t qualify for the credits, as in Tolbert’s case, face sharply higher health insurance costs next year, KFF said. The main factors behind that increase are increased demand for costly treatments, such as GLP-1 drugs for weight loss; higher prices from hospitals and other providers; and insurer projections that millions of people could drop their coverage next year when the premium tax credits expire, said Cynthia Cox, vice president and director of KFF’s program on the ACA.

    “The biggest factor is that health care costs for everybody are going up,” Cox told CBS News. “That’s driven by the underlying health care costs, hospital costs, doctor visits and drugs.”

    “The last time we saw premium increases like this was 2017, going into 2018, when we were talking about ACA ‘repeal and replace,'” a period during President Trump’s first term when he sought to roll back the Affordable Care Act, she added.

    Higher ACA insurance costs could spur some people to go without coverage, said Julie Margetta Morgan, president of The Century Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, and a former official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Biden administration. 

    “Some will have to go to skimpier plans,” she noted in a recent conference call organized by left-leaning economic advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative to discuss the ACA premium tax credit expiration. “Deductibles are going up as well … [consumers] will be heading into next year with bigger out-of-pocket expenses.” 

    For some people, going without health coverage might seem like a financial necessity in the face of sharply higher ACA plan costs in 2026, but ultimately could prove ruinous, KFF’s Cox said. “It’s like gambling with your health and your wallet,” she added. “You don’t know what will happen.”

    In the meantime, Tolbert expressed concern that ACA insurance may become unaffordable for his family if premiums continue to increase at the same pace. That could push him or his wife, who currently stays at home with their son, to look for a job with a bigger employer to secure health insurance, he noted.

    “At this rate, I have one to three more years before I can no longer afford a plan,” he said.

    Edited by

    Alain Sherter

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  • Minnesota commerce commish, MnSure CEO say insurance premium spikes at heart of government shutdown

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    Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans are facing sticker shock as the enrollment period for health insurance on the state marketplace opened Nov 1.

    The increase is in large part due to the expiration of the Affordable Care Act — or “Obamacare” — tax credits, as well as changes in Medicaid reimbursement under President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”

    The battle over tax credits and Medicaid reimbursements is at the heart of the federal government shutdown. Democrats have refused to vote yes on re-opening the government until credits and payments are restored.

    Republicans say they want to negotiate the health insurance subsidies separately, and only pass what they call a “clean resolution.”

    The premium increases are staggering for Minnesotans, and affect those who are purchasing their health insurance on the state-backed MnSure website.

    There are 187,000 Minnesotans who buy individual policies through MnSure, and the average increase is 22%. Another 202,000 Minnesotans covered by small group plans through MnSure will see an average increase of 14%. 

    State Commerce Commissioner Grace Arnold, who oversees insurance rates, and MnSure CEO Libby Caulum spoke with WCCO’s Esme Murphy on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m. Both blame the federal government showdown for the increases.

    “The expectation for insurers is that fewer people will have coverage,” Arnold said. “The people who tend to stay in coverage are sicker.”

    There is a big difference in companies’ increases. On the individual market, Medica has the biggest increase at 30%, while Quartz Health Plan is the smallest at 7%.

    “You can come to our website, MnSure.org, look at all those options. You can switch plans if you find a better deal for you and your family,” Caulum said.

    The enrollment period is from Nov. 1, 2025, to Jan. 15, 2026. If you want benefits starting Jan. 1, 2026, you need to enroll by Dec. 15, 2025. Otherwise, your coverage will start on Feb. 1, 2026.

    You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

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  • A slice of compassion: Local bakeries offer free bread to those affected by government shutdown

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    TRAVERSE CITY — People may not be able to live on bread alone, but it’s a start.

    That’s what a few local bakeries are figuring. The U.S. government shutdown that has left federal employees without a paycheck spurred Old Mission Bakery in Traverse City to begin offering free loaves of bread to affected individuals and families.


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    By Kathy Gibbons Special to the Record-Eagle

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  • A slice of compassion: Local bakeries offer free bread to those affected by government shutdown

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    TRAVERSE CITY — People may not be able to live on bread alone, but it’s a start.

    That’s what a few local bakeries are figuring. The U.S. government shutdown that has left federal employees without a paycheck spurred Old Mission Bakery in Traverse City to begin offering free loaves of bread to affected individuals and families.


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    By Kathy Gibbons Special to the Record-Eagle

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  • A slice of compassion: Local bakeries offer free bread to those affected by government shutdown

    [ad_1]

    TRAVERSE CITY — People may not be able to live on bread alone, but it’s a start.

    That’s what a few local bakeries are figuring. The U.S. government shutdown that has left federal employees without a paycheck spurred Old Mission Bakery in Traverse City to begin offering free loaves of bread to affected individuals and families.

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    Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

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    kAm“x D2:5 E96 @E96C 52J[ ‘xE’D ;FDE 2 =@27 @7 3C625]’ x H2D ECJ:?8 E@ 5:>:?:D9 :E] p?5 @?6 @7 E96 A6@A=6 D2:5[ ‘}@] xE’D 9@A6]”k^Am

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    By Kathy Gibbons Special to the Record-Eagle

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  • AGs sue to preserve food stamp funding

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    BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell co-led more than two dozen states Tuesday in suing the Trump administration over its refusal to fund food stamps during the federal government’s shutdown.

    In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, Campbell and other Democratic attorneys general ask a federal judge to force the White House to tap emergency reserve funds to prevent roughly 42 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from losing their food benefits beginning next week.


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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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