Health Care

Health Care

PRESENTED BY COALITION TO STRENGTHEN AMERICA'S HEALTHCARE

The Big Story

Health care delivered on Election Night 2025

Democrats ran and won on affordability in key off-year races Tuesday. Liberal Democrats on Wednesday said the results should bolster their fight about extending ObamaCare’s enhanced tax credits, even as some are looking for an offramp from the ongoing government shutdown.

© Greg Nash

“I think that one of the reasons of many that the Democrats had so much success is an appreciation the Democrats are trying to protect health care for the American people,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Democrats were rewarded for taking a stand on health care.

“It would be very odd,” Murphy said, “for us to immediately stop fighting.”

A group of centrist Senate Democrats on Tuesday were sounding out Democratic colleagues on a potential deal to reopen the federal government this week or next week, but they were getting strong pushback that could scuttle a potential agreement.

Part of the plan centers on voting for a continuing resolution in exchange for a promise of a vote on extending the subsidies.

After Tuesday’s overwhelming Democratic victories, liberals say that would be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It should be Republicans who come to the negotiating table, not Democrats offering them a lifeline.

A guaranteed vote, with no actual agreement that can be signed into law, would be tough for many Democrats to swallow.

“Now I know that there is some discussion about bipartisan negotiations. And I want to be very clear, if these negotiations say that we're going to pass legislation that will extend the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, count me in, that's great, but there has to be a commitment ... and if it's just a piece of legislation that passes the Senate with either 50 votes or 60 votes, so what? Where does it go? Then it becomes just a meaningless gesture,” Sanders said.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi - every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:

Trump replies to Scott Adams’s request for cancer treatment help: ‘On it’

President Trump said he will help “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams, who pleaded with the president to intervene in his cancer treatment.
“On it!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform ...

Florida’s vaccine mandate rollback stirs fear for immunocompromised

Florida’s announcement that it would scrap public school vaccine mandates next year hit Elizabeth particularly hard. Her 11-year-old daughter suffers from a rare immunodeficiency disorder that requires biweekly plasma infusions to provide some protection against disease.
But she can still be out of school for 50 days during the school year - and Elizabeth is worried that falling vaccine rates will make their situation far worse ...

Trump says he’s withholding SNAP benefits until shutdown ends

President Trump signaled Tuesday he would be withholding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits until "Radical Left Democrats open up government," as many states grapple with a lapse in federal funding ...

A MESSAGE FROM COALITION TO STRENGTHEN AMERICA'S HEALTHCARE

Care that doesn’t clock out - on rounds or on call.

Tell Congress: Protect Access to 24/7 Care - because when the doors close, it is too late. More than 300 hospitals are now at risk of closure, threatening access to critical care. Learn more.

In Other News

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

From a few to more than 350, children and parents ride together to school as a ‘bike bus’

MONTCLAIR, New Jersey (AP) - On a sunny fall morning, children wearing helmets and backpacks gathered with their parents in Montclair, New Jersey, for a group bicycle ride to two local elementary schools. Volunteers in orange safety vests made sure everyone assembled in a neighborhood shopping area was ready before the riders set off on …

Around the Nation

Local and state headlines on health care:

• Violent attack against ER nurse ignites outrage among Pa. health care workers who demand protection (WTAE)
• State disputes Oz claim about Oregon spending (The Lund Report)
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves submits rural health plan for federal money. What to know (The Clarion-Ledger)

What We're Reading

Health news we've flagged from other outlets:

• While politicos dispense blame, these doctors aim to take shame out of medicine (KFF Health News)
• Obamacare is still on Trump’s mind - but outlook appears doubtful (Roll Call)
• Appeals court judges seem skeptical of Trump administration’s defense of capping NIH overhead payments (Stat)

What People Think

Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill:

• How Republicans can make health care affordable
• Marijuana is losing favor because it is a truly harmful substance

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Source: The Hill - News