Myra Batchelder

Time is short for an ACA premium fix in the shutdown fight, says GOP insurance leader After warning Congress for months about premium spikes, the leader of the country's insurance commissioners — a Republican from North Dakota — says he's hopeful there could be a last minute fix.

"We're seeing increases in premiums because health care costs are going up, but when you also take away these subsidies, you're pulling the rug out from people. You're looking at a family that was paying $800 a month for their health insurance and that jumps to $3,000."
www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Millions of Poor Retirees Have Lost an Easier Path to Help With Medicare

More Retirees Are Living on Less, and Losing a Means of Help to Pay for Medicare

The budget bill signed by President Trump suspended an effort to enroll more low-income older Americans in programs that assist them with rising health care costs.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/b...

👀 Marjorie Taylor Greene breaks with Republicans on Obamacare funding, saying she’s not a fan of the law but demands action to prevent a premium hike. “I’m absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will DOUBLE if the tax credits expire this year.” She says GOP leaders don’t have a plan.

Prosecutors charged hundreds with pregnancy-related child abuse crimes post-Dobbs, research shows More than 400 people were charged with pregnancy-related crimes during the two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights, research released Tuesday shows.

More than 400 people were charged with pregnancy-related crimes during the two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a new report shows. Most of the charges involved child welfare laws based on allegations of substance use during pregnancy. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/pros...

Maine Family Planning is closing its primary care practice Maine Family Planning to close primary care practice due to defunding of Medicaid. That will affect thousands of patients in Maine.

That comes after Congress denied Medicaid reimbursement to Maine Family Planning and other providers who also offer abortion care. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/01/s...

Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard on Climate, Health, and Health Care This scorecard evaluates states for vulnerability to and contribution to environmental factors affecting health care systems and highlights ways to reduce impacts.

🌪️🌫️ Extreme weather and air pollution are straining hospitals and putting patients at risk.
Our new Scorecard is the first to compare all 50 states + DC on climate risks and explore the policies that can address them.

Cervical cancer could be eradicated, experts say. But not with Medicaid cuts and anti-vax politics. Third in a five-part series.It had been a decade since Jess Deis’ last women’s wellness exam when Kentucky expanded Medicaid and she finally qualified for the state insurance program.

Cervical cancer has a known path of prevention with the HPV vaccine. But that also means it falls at the intersection of three cultural issues that are facing strong political opposition — broad access to low-cost or free reproductive health care, access to vaccines for children, and sex education.

Breaking: the Trump administration is planning to expand the global gag rule — a policy designed to block global abortion access — in order to restrict funding for organisations who work on gender and DEI overseas.

@politico.com spoke to our senior director of US external relations, Beth Schlachter

Covid is not over.

People are still dying and becoming disabled every day.

We rushed “back to normal” for the economy, not because the threat had passed.

When you wear a mask, you’re not only protecting your health, you’re saying you don’t believe anyone is expendable.

Low-income children lack access to Covid vaccines because of approval delay Two weeks after vaccine advisers approved new Covid recs, Kennedy still hasn’t given his approval, leaving states unable to order updated shots for low-income kids.

RFK Jr. still hasn’t signed off on the ACIP recommendations for COVID19 vaccines. It’s been almost 2 weeks.

The impact of his continued maliciousness is that these shots still aren’t available to families for their kids through the Vaccines for Children program, which about half of US kids use.

Resources for Providers to Prepare for ICE Presence at Health Care Facilities With health care settings vulnerable to immigration enforcement actions, it’s time to get prepared.

Prepare for potential immigration enforcement actions at health care facilities using @prh.org’s new resource page, which aims to support your efforts to protect patients and communities.

prh.org/resource/ice...

Despite Budget Concerns, Three-Quarters of Public Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year, Including Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters | KFF A new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds more than three-quarters (78%) of the public say they want Congress to extend the enhanced tax credits available to people with low and moderate incomes to make th...

"More than three-quarters (78%) of the public say they want Congress to extend the enhanced tax credits available to people with low & moderate incomes to make the health coverage purchased through the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace more affordable" www.kff.org/public-opini...

I just got a call from my rheumatologist. Because of the changes to Medicaid, which no longer reimburses telemedicine appointments, I can either pay out of pocket or drive two hours away every three months, which is not possible for me most of the year due to my work schedule.

COVID-19 infection associated with increased risk of new-onset vascular dementia in adults ≥50 years - npj Dementia npj Dementia - COVID-19 infection associated with increased risk of new-onset vascular dementia in adults ≥50 years

Can’t emphasize enough that new studies like this come out ALL THE TIME but are usually ignored by basically everyone, including the media & the medical establishment. It’s bananas. #COVID

Healthcare is a human right. For everyone. #HealthcareIsHumanRight

ER doc here! This is a lie. Wait times are up because the American healthcare system is an unsustainable business model and a for-profit national healthcare system just doesn’t work. These problems will continue to get worse until we change that system. It literally has nothing to do with immigrants

Took kiddo for a swab this morning for a study. We walk in in masks, kiddo is hacking and coughing. Pharmacist who administered the test...wore gloves, but no mask. The disconnect is huge.

It continues to blow my mind to be in settings with people at high-risk for complications from COVID-19 and see no one wearing a mask. Especially when COVID rates are high in this area.

Voters Elected Her to Congress. Mike Johnson Is Making Her Wait. “At this point, I can’t hire staff. We don’t have an office. I can’t get around without being escorted,” Arizona’s incoming House Democrat, Adelita Grijalva, said Tuesday.

Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva hasn't been sworn in, so she has to roam Congress with an escort

I saw her this morning going through security along visitors — something lawmakers don't need to do when walking into the Capitol

More on her limbo status here:
www.notus.org/congress/ade...

For nearly 50 years, the Hyde Amendment has been used to deny people with public insurance the ability to access abortion care.

In DC, the Dornan Amendment takes it a step further: it strips an entire city of the right to use its own funds to take care of its residents when the government fails.

The U.S. gov’t is hours from shutting down unless the far-right & remaining Dems strike a deal.
This isn’t just politics—it’s a direct threat to our health care, workforce, national security, and public services.
Here’s what’s at stake. ⬇️
#Shutdown #PublicHealth #ACA
(1/8)

The Republican tax bill proposes $5 trillion in tax cuts. But one group notably left out in the cold: student loan borrowers (yet again!). The bill sets up a TAX BOMB on income-driven repayment forgiveness and other statutory loan cancellations after this year.

Department of Education Pauses Student Loan Forgiveness Under IBR Plan The Department of Education said it paused time-based student loan forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment plan as it updates payment counts to reflect a court injunction from earlier this year.

They are doing this because the CARES act made any student loan forgiveness tax free through the end of 2025. Starting next year only PSLF will be tax free.

If they delay long enough then some people on IBR will face a tax bomb. It's just more cruelty to anyone who doesn't come from money.

We're in a health care emergency: 15 MILLION people are going to lose their health care. Millions are about to see their premiums skyrocket.

Republicans are in power. They need to roll back their massive health care cuts and fund the government.

One in 15 Americans has witnessed a mass shooting – study Report finds that 7% of Americans have been present at the scene of a mass shooting and 2% have been injured in one

“The study found that about 7% of US adults have been present at the scene of a mass shooting in their lifetime, and more than 2% have been injured during one.”

Birth control is basic healthcare, and it should be easy to access. #FreeThePill

An orange and blue graphic for World Contraception Day, created by Free the Pill. There is a map of the United States with boxes of Opill scattered across the states. Text reads: “Free the Pill: Through Perrigo's bulk donation program, eligible non-profits can distribute Opill for free in their communities. visit OpillDonations.com to find an organization distributing Opill near you! #WorldContraceptionDay”

#WorldContraceptionDay Fact: Opill is now available online and in stores nationwide–no ID or Rx needed! Visit opill.com/pages/donati... to find an organization near you that is distributing it free of cost. #FreeThePill

States With Over-The-Counter Contraceptive Coverage Laws — Free The Pill In 2016, Free the Pill began working with state advocates in Maryland, the first state to enact an over-the-counter (OTC) contraceptive coverage law. More states have followed. To understand the OTC contraceptive coverage landscape in each state, two factors should be considered: coverage requiremen

There are currently 11 states across the country that require insurance coverage of OTC birth control 🥳 This #WorldContraceptionDay, we’re calling on policymakers to commit to adding their state to the list. Here’s how ➡️ bit.ly/4eTnYHW #FreeThePill

Happy #WorldContraceptionDay!

Today, we’re celebrating Opill on shelves across the US–no Rx or ID needed! Together with @freethepill.bsky.social, we 👏did 👏that👏!

Now, we’re continuing our work to ensure it is equitably accessible to *everyone* who wants it: freethepill.org/even...

The U.S. said it would burn $9.7 million of birth control. Its fate is still unclear Questions about their fate swirled after the government's July deadline for destruction came and went. Then came a false report they'd been incinerated. Aid groups say it's not too late to save them.

In honor of #WorldContraceptionDay, the Administration should distribute, not destroy, $10 million in contraceptives already purchased with your taxpayer dollars.