Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Trump's Obamacare problem

President Donald Trump and Republicans are trying to sell the benefits of their “One Big, Beautiful Bill” despite the fact many Americans, and even members in their own conference, worry about the cuts to Medicaid.

Most voters do not trust Trump on health care and fear the significant cuts to Medicaid. Republicans already face hostile voters in their town halls when it comes to health care.

But as if that were not a big enough problem, Trump and the Republicans face another looming crisis that could cause health care prices to spike.

And it comes from an old political enemy: The Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

In 2022, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brokered a deal with now former senator Joe Manchin for the Inflation Reduction Act. As part of the agreement, the bill extended an expansion of subsidies to the Affordable Care Act that initially passed under the American Rescue Plan Act, Joe Biden’s signature piece of legislation to provide relief during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, people who might not have health insurance under their employer but are not eligible for Medicaid can purchase health care on state exchanges. If they earn an income below a certain threshold, they could be eligible for tax credits.

The subsidies initially passed under the ARPA, and then later under the IRA, increased eligibility for people making up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Line. But they expire at the end of the calendar year.

Read more here.

By Eric Garcia

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Daily briefing

Five soldiers shot at Fort Stewart Army base in Georgia: Suspect identified as Army sergeant

Quornelius Radford, 28, an automated logistics sergeant for the 2nd brigade, was tackled to the ground and subdued by other soldiers who witnessed the attack before being taken into custody Wednesday, Mike Bedigan reports. 

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

I don't want the names taking over the great work they're doing.

President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan when asked who was behind the name “Speedway Slammer,” given to a new migrant detention center in Indiana.

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