The Daily The Fight at the Center of the Government Shutdown
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Oct 2, 2025 
Margot Sanger-Katz, a health policy reporter for The New York Times, and Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent, dive into the political tussle of the U.S. government shutdown. They discuss how Democrats are leveraging rising health care costs to frame the narrative and the implications of expiring subsidies. Sanger-Katz warns of skyrocketing premiums, while Goldmacher draws parallels to the 2018 midterms. With both sides battling for leverage, they explore whether Democrats can make health care a winning issue again.
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Marketplace Subsidies Are About To Snap Back
- Subsidies for people buying insurance on the marketplaces are set to expire and will sharply raise premiums for many.
- KFF estimates an average 114% increase, but impacts vary by income, age, and state.
Temporary Pandemic Subsidies Were A Political Compromise
- Democrats expanded subsidies during the pandemic but made them temporary to secure votes in a narrowly divided Senate.
- The expiration was a political compromise with Senator Joe Manchin that left the program time-limited.
Red States Now Disproportionately Exposed
- Enrollment surged after the subsidy expansion, especially in Republican-led states that didn't expand Medicaid.
- Those states now face concentrated sticker shock if subsidies lapse, creating political leverage for Democrats.