For some reason, very few people these days will stand up and say it, but: the US federal bureaucracy is one of the great wonders of the world, staffed with incredibly diligent people who do their jobs well and care deeply.
Trump's destruction of the federal apparaus was a historic crime.
While Trump toys around with "concepts of a plan" and Senate Republicans sit on their hands, cuts to healthcare in Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" are about to send insurance premiums SOARING.
Audrey from Massachusetts' Health Connector witnesses the damage first-hand:
NEW: Congress missed its chance to stop the Obamacare premium shock. But it can still undo some of the damage.
@citizencohn.bsky.social explains how a retroactive fix could work, who’s standing in the way, and why every delay means more people lose coverage. lnk.thebulwark.com/4segki6?utm_...
“Before I sign up, I will wait and see what happens.” How one Chicago woman is dealing with a topsy-turvy Obamacare enrollment season.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
"In the United States of America, access to affordable health care should not prevent anyone from starting a business, changing careers or being able to live the life of their choosing."
The ACA tax credits disproportionately benefit our small businesses. Congress must act.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick: "I've heard so many people in the Republican conference rail on the ACA, rail on Obamacare, rail on the premium tax credits…They have never offered a better alternative…They still have not been able to put together an articulable plan."
Proposals from Senators Scott and Cassidy to convert ACA premium tax credits into health accounts present trade-offs that benefit healthy people at the expense of sick people. Senator Scott's proposal, in particular, would destabilize the insurance market in some states.
www.kff.org/affordable-c...
The Affordable Care Act created a marketplace where consumers could use subsidies to help purchase private-sector plans. Trump’s concept of a plan involves no such marketplace, plunging consumers into a state of nature
"It’s so good ... They’re gonna feel like entrepreneurs" trib.al/7cyWvzQ
Thank you, Gov. Healey, for the chance to lift up the thousands of MA residents facing cost increases as a result of the loss of ePTC b/c of Congressional inaction. We hear daily from worried members – working parents, small biz owners, & people with complex medical needs - unsure of what to do.
Sen. Lindsey Graham — quoted here by Jake Sherman — objecting to ACA subsidy extension bc “it would enrich health insurance companies even more”
Republicans waged a relentless, decades-long campaign to privatize Medicare and Medicaid
They fought even mild efforts to expand public insurance
Now they are objecting to extending extra ACA subsidies, supposedly because money flows to private insurers
We are supposed to take this seriously?
This is, unsurprisingly, nonsensical. Is he suggesting eliminating health insurance and giving people a few thousand dollars instead? And then when they get a cancer diagnosis they just go bankrupt?
He is so unserious. That's why we are shut down and Americans know it.
With the mini-burst of proposals to replace enhanced PTCs with spending accounts like FSAs, keep in mind that this would *absolutely wallop* older people with middle incomes—say a 63-year-old earning $65K—who are among the most dependent on enhanced PTCs. 🧵1/
@citizencohn.bsky.social: "The string of empty promises of a supposedly fantastic, about-to-be-revealed GOP health plan has long been a running joke in Washington...that stretches back more than a decade."
Read the latest Breakdown @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/the-republ...
I hear from informed sources that these #NoKings rallies are more than twice as big as last time, making them easily the largest protests in US history. Thanks to everyone and especially organizers.
Concord, Massachusetts - birthplace of the original American #NOKINGS movement - showing up & showing out at the historic Old North Bridge today.
"Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year...."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/h...
Honored to join Senator Markey yesterday in Dorchester to raise the alarm on the threats to the Massachusetts health care system coming out of new federal policies & the risk of the looming expiration of enhanced ACA Tax Credits. Massachusetts residents’ health and security are on the line.
Seems like a good time to revisit why we require hospitals to provide emergency care, no questions asked -- and why we help them with the costs.
And how the president who signed those provisions into law wasn't Joe Biden.
It was Ronald Reagan. www.thebulwark.com/p/government...
"Not a single Democrat has talked about wanting to fund care for people in the United States unlawfully. Instead, what Democrats have said is they want to undo Medicaid cuts projected to leave nearly 10 million Americans uninsured." Eh, close enough!
Republicans would rather shut down the government than help millions of Americans afford health care. This article tells some of their stories, and is a good reminder of what’s at stake.
Why are people screaming at a private citizen to do something about Gaza? She’s not in the White House anymore. Meanwhile, the President was in New York, as well. What power do you think she has now?
Republicans could allow the expiration of a Biden-era program that reduced premiums and got record numbers of Americans insured, but that might be risky after running so hard on consumer prices and the cost of living.
Difficult to capture just how much self-destructive policy — undermining long-term energy independence, killing new factory jobs, reversing historic gains in health coverage — Republicans have packed into this one bill
Statement just issued from our bipartisan coalition of State-based Marketplaces, urging the Senate to reject proposals in the reconciliation bill that will result in coverage losses and increased costs for the tens of millions of Americans that depend on ACA Marketplaces for their health care.
Thank you to the Washington Post editorial board for shining a bright light on the very real threats to ACA Marketplaces hiding in plain sight in the reconciliation bill. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
As Republicans weigh steep cuts, Times reporters want to hear from people who rely on the Affordable Care Act or Medicaid for health insurance.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/u...
GOP leadership strategy so far has leaned heavily on speed and obfuscation
Does make me wonder how much lawmakers understand what they’re voting on—or what it’d do to some of their own constituents
My latest for @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/do-republi...
@citizencohn.bsky.social: "For now, almost all elected Republicans seem content to keep going with their big beautiful bill. But they should be spooked—and maybe they will be, once they realize what’s truly in there." www.thebulwark.com/p/do-republi...
