What the Health? From KFF Health News The GOP Still Can’t Agree on a Health Plan
Dec 4, 2025
In this insightful discussion, Alice Miranda Ollstein, a politics and health reporter, dives into the Republican struggle over ACA subsidy extensions. Joanne Kenen, a public health journalist, highlights the tension between public health recommendations and individual freedoms regarding vaccines. Paige Winfield Cunningham shares insights on GOP proposals related to health savings accounts. The episode also features Aneri Pattani, who discusses tracking $50 billion from opioid settlements and its implications for communities. The panel wraps up with crucial health policy reading recommendations.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
GOP Prioritizes Primary Safety Over Extending Subsidies
- Many Republicans prefer letting the enhanced ACA subsidies expire rather than be seen supporting Obamacare.
- Fear of primary challenges and ideological purity outweighs concern about rising premiums for some GOP members.
HSAs Are A Political Fix, Not A Cure
- Proposals to move extra ACA subsidies into HSAs are politically attractive but limited in effect.
- HSAs help those with savings but likely reduce coverage and won't solve systemic health-cost issues.
Premium Increases Reflect Wider Cost Problem
- Rising premiums are a broader problem beyond the ACA subsidy fight affecting federal workers, Medicare, and employer plans.
- Fixing one program won't solve nationwide affordability driven by prices and health spending.