Lawmakers Face Public Health Questions as Americans Face High Costs

Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Ascendiun — the parent company of Blue Shield of California — talks about the future of the health care industry and the path forward as Americans face increasingly high costs.

Republicans are moving forward with a plan to fund the government past an Oct. 1 deadline without making concessions to Democrats demanding health-care policy changes, setting up a standoff that risks a chaotic shutdown.

The gambit to brush off Democrats, whose votes are needed in the Senate to pass the funding legislation, also lowers the chances of a deal to avert a large increase in Obamacare premiums that will affect millions of Americans starting Jan. 1.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has demanded any funding measure address Democratic priorities like the Obamacare premiums, a move that Senate Majority Leader John Thune disparaged as “odd.” Thune is betting there are enough moderate Democrats who will break ranks to avoid a shutdown.

“I don’t think that’s a view that’s shared by his members,” Thune said in an interview.

Schumer backed off similar demands in March during another government funding fight. He came under blistering criticism at the time from liberals. The Democratic base has become only more restive nine months into President Donald Trump’s second term and just over a year ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Now Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries say they won’t support a spending bill that fails to lower health-care costs for Americans. They have cited the looming expiration of Obamacare premium subsidies for the middle class, Medicaid cuts affecting rural hospitals and Trump administration cuts to medical research as areas for negotiation.

Any stopgap spending bill would need the support of at least seven Senate Democrats to pass Congress this month.

“They ain’t going to get the votes, plain and simple,” Schumer told reporters when asked about a stopgap free of health-care changes.

Obamacare enrollees will begin receiving notifications in November of premium increases due to the expiration of pandemic-era relief that allows families with incomes of more than 400% of the poverty to receive credits and caps their premiums at 8.5% of income.

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