Bram Sable-Smith

When is the point of no return for extending ACA tax credits?

They expire 12/31, so that’s a drop dead date.

Open enrollment starts November 1. If they’re not extended by then, enrollees may start dropping out. Even if open enrollment is extended, people could be hard to reach.

KFF bar chart graphic titled "About 4 in 10 Parents Support the MAHA Movement, Including 8 in 10 MAGA Republican Parents." Data shows varying levels of support across different demographics including party ID, race/ethnicity, education, age, and gender. Key insights include higher support among Republicans and lower support among Democrats and Independents. Presented by KFF/The Washington Post, dated July 18-August 4, 2025.

Who are MAHA parents?

The breakdown from our poll with the @washingtonpost.com: on.kff.org/477Oo5L

KFF graphic showing about a quarter (27%) of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural managers got health insurance through the individual market in 2023.

KFF analysis finds 27% of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural managers got health insurance through the individual market in 2023, which is mostly (over 90%) made up of the ACA Marketplaces.

🔗: https://on.kff.org/46A1Crt

States Are Cutting Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit - KFF Health News North Carolina and Idaho are cutting their Medicaid programs to bridge budget gaps, raising fears that providers will stop taking patients and that hospitals will close even before the brunt of a new ...

"We are hurting ourselves in North Carolina way ahead of the game, way before we need to do this," NC's former Chief Medical Officer told me.

Reporting w/ @realbrambo.bsky.social for @kffhealthnews.org

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

‘Sick to My Stomach’: Trump Distorts Facts on Autism, Tylenol, and Vaccines, Scientists Say - KFF Health News The White House’s autism announcement exaggerates links to Tylenol, misleads on vaccines, and sets back the field by ignoring decades of research, scientists say.

🚨 "Sick to my stomach."

That's how the researcher who found a link between Tylenol and autism felt when she realized MAHA would link her analysis to vaccines.

My latest exclusive @kffhealthnews.org
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

States Are Cutting Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit - KFF Health News North Carolina and Idaho are cutting their Medicaid programs to bridge budget gaps, raising fears that providers will stop taking patients and that hospitals will close even before the brunt of a new ...

NEW: Trump's signature legislation is cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid. But even before those cuts hits, states are slashing their programs.

It's already making it harder for one North Carolina mom to find care for her disabled son
w/ @sjtribble-reports.bsky.social

YouTube video by KFF Health News Patient Numbers at NIH Hospital Continue To Decline Under Second Trump Administration

We previously reported that the number of people receiving treatment at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center - known as America's research hospital - declined from February-April.

Since then, I obtained newer data through mid-August. And it's gotten worse. youtube.com/shorts/yT5Vc...

The Trump administration announces it is making "affordable" ACA plans available to certain groups of people, including those who lose eligibility for tax credits slated to expire at the end of the year.

These plans have lower premiums, but deductibles of over $10,000.
www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...

NEW: Feel like you're reading more about hospitals fighting with insurers and even stranding patients out of network?

It's not your imagination. Almost 1 in 5 hospitals had a brawl with an insurer in the past 4 years.

Trump admin cuts mean we're likely to see even more...

Just heard a guy on the beach say “Microsoft Teams.” This is unacceptable.

World’s premier cancer institute faces crippling cuts and chaos | CNN The Trump administration’s broadsides against scientific research have caused unprecedented upheaval at the National Cancer Institute, the storied federal government research hub that has spearheaded ...

"It's a crap show"

"People will die"

The Trump administration’s broadsides against scientific research are causing unprecedented upheaval at the National Cancer Institute, which has spearheaded advances against the disease for decades. Me + @arthurallen202.bsky.social

www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/h...

Wisconsin passed a budget in the middle of the night that, among other things, increased provider taxes to the maximum permitted value, so they would be grandfathered before the House votes on reconciliation

www.wpr.org/news/tony-ev...

To keep Medicaid, a mom caring for her disabled adult son may soon need to prove she works Republicans have touted Medicaid work requirements both as a way to reduce federal spending on the program and as a moral imperative for Americans.

NEW: Under GOP budget bill, 18.5 million Americans would need to prove they work to keep their Medicaid coverage.

One of them is likely a Kansas City woman who already had to make an excruciating choice due to Medicaid rules: give up guardianship of her disabled son to work as his caregiver.

In the wake of today's Supreme Court ruling in Skrmetti, looking for trans teens and parents of trans youth based in Illinois willing to talk about their experiences with gender-affirming care.

Hoping to have a conversation about this in the coming weeks on @21st.show.

My DMs are open.

When the House budget resolution first came out, moderate Republicans raised concerns about Medicaid. But, the House-passed bill cut Medicaid by $793 billion.

There was an expectation the Senate might moderate cuts. Now, they're looking at even bigger Medicaid cuts.

To be clear, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally-funded benefits, including Medicaid.

RFK Jr. sent Congress 'medical disinformation' to defend COVID vaccine schedule change A document circulated to members of Congress misinterprets studies and cites debunked research, scientists say. It could influence congressional perceptions of vaccine safety.

In the middle of this wild week of other news, the amazing Jackie Fortiér and I were running down this story that published today on @npr.org and @kffhealthnews.org

Here's what happened, and why I think it's worth paying attention even with all of....this....going on 👇

‘We Dissent’: NIH Workers Protest Trump Policies That ‘Harm the Health of Americans’ - KFF Health News A letter signed by more than 300 National Institutes of Health workers — some still working, others who were fired this year — is an extraordinary public rebuke of actions taken under Director Jay Bha...

NEWS this morning: Hundreds of NIH workers sent a sharply worded letter to Trump officials this morning protesting their actions regarding the agency, saying they are causing a "dramatic reduction in life-saving research.”

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Trump decried crime in America, then gutted funding for gun violence prevention | CNN The U.S. Department of Justice canceled $500 million in grants to public safety organizations nationwide, including some that address gun violence. One clinic in St. Louis lost a $2 million award to d...

NEW: Violent crime was already trending down when Trump campaigned on addressing unbridled crime in America.

Now his administration has cut about $500 million for crime prevention.

My latest for @cnn.com and @kffhealthnews.org

www.cnn.com/2025/06/03/h...

Kansas City Super Bowl rally victims file suit, saying shooting was a ‘preventable calamity' Three mothers who were shot, along with their children, filed the lawsuit in Jackson County Court, saying “systemic failures” by the firearms sellers, the city, Union Station and the Greater Kansas Ci...

Three mothers whose children were shot during the Chiefs' Super Bowl rally in 2024 are suing a host of entities, saying the mass shooting shows systemic failure and could have been prevented. www.kcur.org/news/2025-06...

'Bring Carol home:' ICE snatches rural Missouri mom at immigration check-in A Kennett, Missouri, woman went to St. Louis last month for what she thought was a routine meeting with immigration officials to renew her immigration documents. Instead, they shackled her and are now...

A Kennett, Missouri, woman went to St. Louis last month for what she thought was a routine meeting with immigration officials to renew her immigration documents.

Instead, they shackled her and are now trying to deport her to Hong Kong.

A man, Kevin Hines, stands in front of one of the many trees uprooted in St. Louis during a tornado.

Kevin Hines has been living in a house without a roof in the days since a tornado devastated his community.

He has seen some of his neighbors sleeping in their cars.

The twister caused more than $1.6 billion in estimated property damage. But the community is still waiting for federal aid.

What happens when rural birthing units close?
➡️Sophie doesn't want an induction but is worried if she can't make it to the hospital (1.5-hours away) on time + has to deliver in the car
➡️A winter storm made it too dangerous to drive to a birthing hospital so Nanette delivered in an ER w/o an epidural

Also surprising is how being even just one block further removed from the path of the storm is the difference between total devastation and life continuing almost normally.

The wreckage from the tornado in St. Louis on Friday was unbelievable and I've been surprised how little attention and coverage it's received nationally.

Some context here: Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally-funded Medicaid coverage, though some states use their own money to cover them. CBO estimates 1.4 million immigrants would become uninsured and lose STATE-FUNDED coverage as a result of the bill.

Potential Impacts of 2025 Budget Reconciliation on Health Coverage for Immigrant Families | KFF This policy watch discusses key provisions in the draft 2025 budget reconciliation legislation that are aimed at limiting health coverage for immigrant families.

New piece by @kff.org discusses key provisions in the draft House budget reconciliation bill that would limit or eliminate access to health coverage for immigrant families and potentially lead to negative impacts on the nation's workforce and economy
www.kff.org/policy-watch...

House Energy and Commerce Committee Medicaid Provisions Released, Mark-Up Set for Tuesday Statement by Joan Alker, Executive Director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, regarding Medicaid provisions included in the House Energy and Commerce budget reconciliat…

Here's my statement on the Medicaid provisions that the House GOP dropped last night on Mother's Day which are being rushed to markup at 2p tomorrow, Tuesday.

ccf.georgetown.edu/2025/05/12/h...

One out of every 25 Americans would lose their insurance…