This is the best OEP ever for the ACA for several reasons:
The expanded/enhanced premium subsidies first introduced in 2021 via the American Rescue Plan, which make premiums more affordable for those who already qualified while expanding eligibility to millions who weren't previously eligible, are continuing through the end of 2025 via the Inflation Reduction Act;
A dozen states are either launching, continuing or expanding their own state-based subsidy programs to make ACA plans even more affordable for their enrollees;
100,000 or more DACA recipients are finally eligible to enroll in ACA exchange plans & receive financial assistance!
9/29/25: Welcome Paul Krugman subscribers! I greatly appreciate the shoutout by him but should add the following clarification:
Regarding the chart below which he reposted comparing the original ACA subsidy scale to the current version: You probably think that if the enhanced subsidies expire it will revert back to the original version, which would be bad enough. In fact, however, the Trump Regime has also made THAT version even worse, like so:
As expected, just moments ago the House of Representatives voted to extend the enhanced ACA tax credits for another 3 years, through the end of 2018, with no strings attached...with a whopping 17 House Republicans crossing over to vote for it.
This is actually slightly higher than my prediction yesterday that up to 16 total House Republicans would vote for it, I should note!
I'm going to assume it will end up narrowly passing the House; it would be pretty stupid for those four to sign the discharge petition without actually voting for the bill, and Republicans are currently down 2 members anyway with Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) having resigned and Doug LaMalfa (CA) dying yesterday morning.
Massachusetts is investing $600 million – the most in the country – to limit health care premium increases after President Trump and Congressional Republicans refused to extend ACA credits
BOSTON—Governor Maura Healey today detailed the strongest plan in the country* to protect Massachusetts residents from health care cost increases after President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans refused to extend Federal Enhanced Premium Tax Credits (EPTC) under the Affordable Care Act. 22 million Americans, including hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents who get their health insurance through the Massachusetts Health Connector, have relied on these credits to afford their health insurance.
H.R. 1834 would authorize an extension through 2028 of the premium tax credit structure provided in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and later extended through calendar year 2025 by the 2022 reconciliation act. The advanceable and refundable premium tax credit reduces out−of-pocket costs for the premiums enrollees pay for health insurance obtained through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.
Budget-wise, the CBO is pegging a 3-yr extension at costing around $80.6 billion net (they had previously pegged a 10-yr extension at ~$350B, but that assumes 10 years of inflation/etc as well).
When that didn't happen, Brian Fitzpatrick, Robe Bresnahan & Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania, along with Mike Lawler of New York, said "screw this" and signed onto the discharge petition signed by all 213 House Democrats to force a vote on a clean 3-year extension.
Federal health officials are unilaterally reducing the number of recommended pediatric immunizations in response to an order from President Trump, the most significant reshaping of the vaccine schedule since Trump took office and empowered health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of childhood shots.
...The new schedule pares down the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11, recommends some vaccines only for “high-risk” individuals, and says that some other vaccines, such as those for flu and rotavirus, can be given through “shared clinical decision-making.”
...A panel of vaccine advisors handpicked by Kennedy recently recommended that the hepatitis B birth dose be delayed until a baby is at least 2 months old. However, that panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, was not consulted on the changes announced Monday, officials said...
Now that we're into January and there have been several more Open Enrollment deadline extensions, it's time for another updated rundown of the remaining deadlines are for every state and what your options are if you miss them.
This is basically a standalone version of the first section of my annual Open Enrollment Guide; I hope that separating it out will make it less overwhelming.
IDAHO: December 15th was the only deadline for 2026 coverage. If you missed it, you're out of luck unless you qualify for one of the following exceptions:
This is long overdue, I realize, but I've finally decided to stop posting links to ACASignups.net on Twitter/X, period.
I made the decision to stop posting there a few times in the past--when Elon Musk first took over the platform; when he made "verified accounts" meaningless; and most recently, when he performed a Nazi salute on stage.
Each time, however, a few days later I would always convince myself that the positive I was doing by keeping more people informed about the latest developments in U.S. healthcare policy outweighed the negative of continuing to post there.
The other reason I kept cross-posting blog links was more about the data nerd in me: For over a decade I've tracked the traffic to this website across different platforms, and Twitter was always a major part of that, so I wanted to see it through, at least until I reached a natural stopping point.
You can certainly question my logic on both of these rationalizations until now, of course, but that's where my mind was at.
