Public Policy

Politico Pro (6/12/2026): Obamacare likely on the table for Reconciliation 3.0 – Some congressional Republicans are considering making a change to Obamacare that could reduce premiums for health insurance buyers suffering the most from a sharp rise in premiums this year. That premium increase stems from Republicans’ decision to allow some Obamacare subsidies to expire at the end of last year. Democrats have used the resulting premium increases as a cudgel against them ever since. “We’ve already decided on this and we already voted on this. The body believes in this,” Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) told POLITICO of the plan to try again to fund cost-sharing reductions for insurers. That would cause premiums to drop by double digits for Obamacare customers who no longer qualify for subsidies. “It lowers costs. These are winners,” Pfluger said. Republicans tried this before, but the plan fell off their big budget bill last year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, because it didn’t comply with Senate rules that avert a filibuster. Republicans think they can revise the plan to get the Senate parliamentarian’s approval in another party-line budget reconciliation bill they’re hoping to pass before Election Day. The key reform being discussed would reimburse insurers for cost-sharing reduction payments, which lower out-of-pocket costs like deductibles and copays for low-income Obamacare enrollees. In doing so, the reform could lower premiums for those who don’t qualify for subsidies, including higher-income people on the exchanges who lost enhanced subsidies. Even so, a majority of people on the law’s exchanges still get a subsidy, so the impact of the proposed reform would likely be limited and even cause some lower-income enrollees to drop coverage.

Politico Pro (6/10/2026): House appropriators advance bill funding Health, Labor departments – The House Appropriations Committee voted late Tuesday to advance a fiscal 2027 funding bill for the Health and Labor departments that would reduce budgets at both. The 34-28 vote, which came at the end of a 12-hour markup, split along party lines with all Democrats opposing the bill.

If the legislation becomes law in its current form, which is unlikely given opposition in the Senate, it would reduce the 2027 funding for the Department of Health and Human Services by 4 percent and for the Department of Labor by 27 percent. The bill would maintain programs that respond to the nation’s greatest needs and cut those that have shown limited long-term impact and sustainability, said Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), who leads the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health and labor spending. HHS would get $110.8 billion for fiscal 2027, down from $116.6 billion in 2026. Labor would receive $9.8 billion, down from the previous year’s $13.3 billion. Democrats argued that the package would worsen America’s affordability crisis by cutting safety-net programs many Americans depend on, such as Title X, which provides funding for family planning. “The bill takes away all, all $286 million from that lifeline,” said Rep. Lois Frankel, a Florida Democrat.

Politico Pro (6/9/2026): House appropriators push back on Trump administration’s loan eligibility limits – The House Appropriations Committee adopted a bipartisan manager’s amendment to the bill funding the Education Department that would block the agency from lowering student loan borrowing caps for nursing degrees. The manager's amendment, which was developed on a bipartisan basis and adopted by voice vote, would also prevent the agency from altering the structure and implementation of the federal TRIO program, which helps disadvantaged students prepare for college. Tuesday’s markup of the education spending bill is ongoing. The language included in the wide-ranging amendment would block the department from administering federal student aid in “a manner that does not designate advanced nursing programs as professional degree programs.” That language comes after the department’s final rule on student loan limits for graduate and professional degrees — published last month — did not designate nursing as one of the fields eligible for higher loan limits. That agency decision has drawn bipartisan backlash and has generated legal challenges to the final rule. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), who is a registered nurse, said the department's classification was a “misguided decision” that would lead to more debt for students who pursue advanced nursing degrees. “This amendment ensures that no funds from this bill can be used to enforce the Trump administration's misclassification of nursing degrees,” she said in remarks at the markup. “It's a good start, but unfortunately, it does not go far enough. The Trump administration's harmful student loan rule hurts dozens of professionals and will lead to workforce shortages in a wide range of health care fields and other industries, threatening public health and raising costs on everybody. The entire rule must be blocked or rescinded.”

Politico Pro (6/8/2026): House appropriators post Labor-HHS-Education, Homeland Security committee reports – House appropriators posted committee reports Monday for their Labor-HHS-Education and Homeland Security funding bills, ahead of a full committee markup Tuesday on the fiscal 2027 measures. Docs: Labor-HHS-Education committee report, Homeland Security committee report. The panel approved the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill in subcommittee last week, followed by approval of the Homeland Security spending measure.