The Big WSJ Story About Medicare Part D

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IgmjRErVJ2M

 

Republican candidates say they are healthcare champions despite cuts : NPR

Republicans campaigning in swing districts are running ads about healthcare after facing criticism of the cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Many of these ads target voters over 35 years old and focus on three topics: Medicaid fraud, rural hospitals and affordability...

 https://www.npr.org/2026/07/31/nx-s1-5870960/republican-ads-healthcare-medicaid-2026-midterms

 

No internet, no screen time? FCC weighs cutting subsidy that lowers school internet bills

"In rural Alaska, we don't have numerous options," says Patrick Mayer, superintendent for the remote Alaska Gateway School District. "We have one provider." 

 His district, where some students rely on planes to get to school in the winter months, has just under 400 students. Still, the district spends more than half a million dollars per year to ensure it has internet access at its six schools. The price tag is high, but the connection is what allows them to keep up with the rest of the world. 

 "It means the difference between having a school in the 21st century," Mayer says, "or a school in the 20th century."…

 https://www.npr.org/2026/07/10/nx-s1-5878405/fcc-erate-schools-internet-discount

With midterms looming, HHS and states at odds over cause of lagging Obamacare signups - POLITICO

Trump officials say better federal policing of fraud on Healthcare.gov accounts for much of the drop. Meanwhile some state Affordable Care Act exchanges blame higher costs, particularly after Congress decided not to extend beyond Jan. 1 the enhanced subsidies that brought premiums down for higher-income people...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/25/obamacare-affordability-premiums-fraud-midterms-looming-00930051

 

Wendell Potter on The Healthcare Crisis (Al Franken podcast on YouTube)

In a major blow to American healthcare, Congress has let the ACA subsidies expire. This means higher premiums and, as a result, fewer Americans enrolling. We are joined by Wendell Potter, former VP of Corporate Communications for Cigna turned whistleblower and healthcare reform advocate. Since 2009, Wendell has pulled back the curtain on how insurance giants game the system to prioritize profits over patients.

Wendell shares the two stories demonstrating the inhumanity of the American healthcare system that pushed him to speak out. He also talks about the impact of the expiring subsidies and why it could be what he calls a "death spiral." But don't worry! Donald Trump has a plan... or at least concepts of a plan.

Al and Wendell talk about the accomplishments of the ACA, while also acknowledging that Democrats should have done more to strengthen it during the Biden administration. Now with Trump and the Republicans in charge, any chance at meaningful reform is out the window.

Plus, we revisit the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and why that struck a nerve with so many Americans. 

• READ Wendell's Substack, HEALTH CARE un-covered: https://healthcareuncovered.substack.com

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/MmXYc7aYBGs?si=5oNQ4WOMLoZEttza

What is Congress doing about health care?

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AEqUp66w9k0

 

Democrats make pitch to keep no-premium Obamacare plans - POLITICO

More than half of the ACA enrollees in Georgia make between $15,000 and $20,000 a year and are enrolled in no-premium plans, according to Warnock's office...

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/15/democrats-make-pitch-to-keep-no-premium-obamacare-plans-00729669 

 

Takeaways From ProPublica’s Investigation on Public Lands Grazing — ProPublica

Livestock grazing is allowed across 240 million acres of federal land. Our investigation revealed the subsidies propping up ranching, its impact on the environment and the politics underpinning the system...

https://www.propublica.org/article/grazing-public-lands-investigation-takeaways 

 

Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies in Democratic states

A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot block federal money for childcare subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now...

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/jan/10/federal-judge-blocks-white-house-freeze-childcare-subsidies-democratic-states

 

US House breaks with Trump to revive Affordable Care Act subsidies

Seventeen Republicans join Democrats to pass a three-year extension of tax credits cutting ACA premiums…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/08/affordable-care-act-subsidies-vote 

Democrats are united in bashing GOP on Obamacare. Medicare for All could reopen a rift. - POLITICO

The once-fringe policy that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) mainstreamed during his presidential campaigns has become a rallying cry for his favored candidates and other progressives across battleground primaries, as Democrats work to make health care costs central to next year's midterms and as the party base clamors for fighters willing to disrupt the status quo. The push for Medicare for All, which receded during the more moderate Biden era, comes as Democrats have otherwise been unified on their health care messaging, forcing Republicans onto defense over their refusal to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies... 

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/21/democrats-have-been-united-in-bashing-the-gop-on-obamacare-medicare-for-all-could-reopen-a-rift-00701232 

 

If you aren’t loving your neighbor, then keep Jesus’ name out of your mouth

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_JAgGYwxWn8

 

Republican health care plan would result in 100,000 people per YEAR losing coverage

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sLw9N0Hw1wk

 

Lawrence: Trump seemed ‘angry at the truth’ as he read a ‘teleprompter full of lies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBHvArLEuI4

 

Trump blames Democrats for rising healthcare costs. #trump #healthcare #...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PSMWWxMofb4

 

Shocker: Republicans broke their promise.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eOAdL2xVzRs

 

Obamacare expiration will have ‘death spiral’ effect on US healthcare – experts

When you increase premiums dramatically, "the healthy people drop out and therefore the pool is sicker", said Gerard Anderson, a professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins University. 

It becomes a "death spiral", Anderson said. "The sicker people are the only ones that stay in the program until it becomes no longer sustainable and the insurance company stops even offering the plan," Anderson said. 

Those people with high deductibles or no insurance could also struggle to pay medical bills if they become sick or injured…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/14/aca-obamacare-expires

 

House Republicans unveil new health care plan - The Washington Post

Neither of the bipartisan plans includes broader abortion restrictions, which most Republicans are demanding must be included in any ACA subsidy extension. Democrats have said they cannot accept more restrictions on abortion coverage. 

That's likely to become a dividing line as the GOP plan is considered in the House. If the amendment to extend the ACA subsidies doesn't include additional abortion coverage restrictions, most House Republicans are likely to reject it. It's unclear whether enough Democrats would join the bipartisan group to overcome GOP opposition…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/12/house-republicans-healthcare-plan/

 

Senate rejects dueling health care bills as Obamacare deadline looms - Live Updates - POLITICO

The Senate rejected dueling health care bills Thursday, all but guaranteeing that Obamacare subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans will lapse at the end of the year...

 

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/11/congress/senate-rejects-health-care-bills-00686855 

 

ACA health insurance premiums are about to spike. Blame the GOP. | Vox

As even Republican strategists will acknowledge, GOP senators were only going through the motions of appearing to do something about the expiring subsidies. Their HSA plan was doomed to fail, and the party didn't even unify around it until two days before the planned vote. This was not a serious effort to avert a huge premium increase for millions of their own constituents...

https://www.vox.com/health/471965/health-insurance-marketplace-aca-tax-credits-expire