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Crunch Time for ACA Tax Credits

Episode 426

Dec. 11, 2025

Dec. 15 is the deadline to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans that begin Jan. 1, and Congress remains at odds over letting expanded tax credits for the plans’ premiums expire and increasing the cost of insurance for millions of Americans. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to remake vaccine policy to reflect ideology rather than science. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Georgetown professor Linda Blumberg about the GOP’s health plans.

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A close-up image of a black stethoscope wrapped around a stack of U.S. dollar bills.

Health Care Consolidation and Rising Costs Happen, but Obamacare Is Not the Key Culprit

The debate over expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits has given Republicans room to resurface old criticisms — such as blaming the ACA for mergers and consolidation within the health care industry.

By Julie Appleby

Dec. 11, 2025

A photo of enrollment agents with laptops helping people shop for Obamacare plans.

Plan-Switching, Sign-Up Impersonations: Obamacare Enrollment Fraud Persists

Investigators from the Government Accountability Office were able to register nearly 20 fake ACA enrollments in a probe of healthcare.gov. The federal government paid subsidies to insurers for some of the fake customers.

By Julie Appleby

Dec. 10, 2025

A photo of a stethoscope against a green background. It is resting on top of a stack of $100 bills.

Trump’s Idea for Health Accounts Has Been Tried. Millions of Patients Have Ended Up in Debt.

Republican calls to give Americans cash instead of health insurance subsidies double down on a decades-old strategy of moving people into high-deductible plans with health savings accounts.

By Noam N. Levey

Dec. 9, 2025

A photo of Sen. Cassidy walking as reporters flank him on both sides.

Health Savings Accounts, Backed by GOP, Cover Fancy Saunas but Not Insurance Premiums

Health savings accounts can be used to cover medical expenses, tax-free. But while wealthier Americans are using them to pay for gym equipment, cedar ice baths, and hemlock saunas, poorer Americans can’t use them to pay their skyrocketing health insurance premiums.

By Amanda Seitz

Dec. 5, 2025

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

The Government Is Open

Episode 422

Nov. 13, 2025

The record-long federal shutdown is over after a small group of Democrats agreed to a deal with most Republicans that funds the government through January — but, notably, does not extend more generous Affordable Care Act tax credits. Plus, new details are emerging about how the Trump administration is using the Medicaid program to advance its policy goals. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner interviews ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Appleby, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature.

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Wielding Obscure Budget Tools, Trump’s ‘Reaper’ Vought Sows Turmoil in Public Health

Through shrouded bureaucratic maneuvers, White House budget director Russell Vought and DOGE have quietly upended outbreak response, HIV treatment, and dementia care in communities across America.

By Amy Maxmen

Nov. 7, 2025

A red emergency sign on the side of a building

White House Calls This 9/11-Era Fund ‘Wasteful.’ Red and Blue States Rely on It.

States from California to Texas say they rely on tens of millions in federal funding to help them prepare for the next pandemic, cyberattack, or mass-casualty catastrophe. The Trump administration wants to cut it.

By Don Thompson

Nov. 6, 2025

A photo of a man at an orchard picking persimmons from a tree.

Farmers, Barbers, and GOP Lawmakers Grapple With the Fate of ACA Tax Credits

Small-business owners and their employees, who make up nearly half of the Obamacare marketplace, are worried about their health care and their livelihoods as insurance prices surge. Republicans, who have long opposed Obamacare, are at odds over how to respond to upset from one of their party’s most loyal constituencies.

By Amanda Seitz

Nov. 6, 2025

A photo of HealthCare.gov's website. A pop-up form reads, "Get covered for 2026. Start here."

Congressional Stalemate Creates Chaos for Obamacare Shoppers

This year, Affordable Care Act marketplace consumers will need to be more informed than ever to navigate their health coverage choices.

By Michelle Andrews

Nov. 4, 2025

The Week in Brief

Deal or No Deal? States Prepare for Congress To Act at the Last Minute on Obamacare

Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

By Amanda Seitz

Oct. 31, 2025

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

Happy Open Enrollment Eve!

Episode 420

Oct. 30, 2025

A standoff in Congress is keeping much of the government shut down as open enrollment begins in most states for Affordable Care Act plans. Democrats are demanding Republicans agree to extend ACA tax credits, but there has been little negotiating — even as customers are learning what they’ll pay for coverage next year. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is telling states they can’t pass their own laws to keep medical debt off consumers’ credit reports. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.

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Many Fear Federal Loan Caps Will Deter Aspiring Doctors and Worsen MD Shortage

Health care professionals fear that new caps on federal student lending, set to start in July, will put medical school out of reach for many who want to become doctors and exacerbate physician shortages. Others say unlimited federal lending has fed a rise in academic costs, saddling families and, ultimately, taxpayers with debt.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Oct. 28, 2025

A Ticking Clock: How States Are Preparing for a Last-Minute Obamacare Deal

Even if Congress strikes a deal soon to extend more generous Affordable Care Act subsidies, the prices and types of ACA plans available could change dramatically. Unprecedented uncertainty and upheaval could cloud this year’s open enrollment season, which begins in most states on Saturday.

By Amanda Seitz and Julie Appleby

Oct. 28, 2025

��ýҕ�l Health News On Air

Reporters Cover the Shutdown and the Use of AI in Health Care

��ýҕ�l Health News journalists made the rounds on national or local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Oct. 25, 2025

The Week in Brief

‘Cancer Doesn’t Care’: Volunteer Lobbyists Push Past Washington’s Ugly Politics

Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

By Noam N. Levey

Oct. 24, 2025

A photo of a phone screen showing the HealthCare.gov website.

GOP Talking Point Holds ACA Is Haunted by ‘Phantom’ Enrollees, but the Devil’s in the Data

Enhanced Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies have emerged as a flash point in the congressional standoff over the federal government shutdown. Republicans point to what they characterize as increasing amounts of fraud as a reason to hold up the subsidies. But there are two sides to the story.

By Victoria Knight

Oct. 24, 2025

A photo of the U.S. Capitol. In the foreground is part of a sign that reads, "closed."

Listen: Amid Shutdown Stalemate, Families Brace for SNAP Cuts and Paycheck Limbo

��ýҕ�l Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” to discuss how the government shutdown is affecting food benefits and the help many Americans get to offset their health insurance premiums.

By Julie Rovner

Oct. 24, 2025

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

Nutrition Programs Face Their Own Shutdown

Episode 419

Oct. 23, 2025

Two major nutrition programs — SNAP and WIC — are likely to exhaust their funding in November, and the furloughs and firings at the CDC have left the agency unable to perform some of its major functions. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s new IVF policy is being met with dissatisfaction from both sides. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Katheryn Houghton, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature.

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‘Cancer Doesn’t Care’: Citizen Lobbyists Unite To Push Past Washington’s Ugly Politics

Despite a poisonous political climate, hundreds of volunteer advocates put partisan differences aside and pressed Congress to help people with cancer.

By Noam N. Levey

Oct. 21, 2025

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