| | | | |  | | By Daniel Payne, Carmen Paun, Ruth Reader and Erin Schumaker | | Presented by |  | | | | | | | 
Obamacare subsidies President Biden signed into law expire at the end of 2025. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | Oft-opposed health care interests, from hospitals to insurers, are preparing a lobbying push to convince lawmakers to extend Obamacare subsidies Congress boosted in the Inflation Reduction Act. They formed a coalition, Keep Americans Covered, last week to press for the extension. Among the members: the Federation of American Hospitals, the insurer trade group AHIP, the American College of Physicians and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. “Millions of those patients will see their premiums skyrocket if Congress does nothing,” said Charlene MacDonald, executive vice president of public affairs with the hospital federation and member of the coalition’s board, in a statement. Why it matters: If the subsidies expire, more than 20 million people buying insurance through the Obamacare marketplace could see significant premium increases. That, in turn, could make coverage unaffordable, ultimately reducing patient access and cutting into the bottom line for many health entities. The backstory: Congress first increased Obamacare subsidies in the American Rescue Plan — the first major piece of legislation President Joe Biden signed in 2021 — then extended them through 2025 in the IRA two years ago. The subsidies help not only reduce the cost of Obamacare plans for low-income people, but also extend subsidies to more in the middle-income range. Those earners often found private insurance plans unaffordable before Congress acted. But Democrats controlled Congress and the White House then, and there’s a strong likelihood that won’t be the case next year. It’s also not clear whether Donald Trump, if he wins, supports extending the subsidies. Conservatives are making the case for allowing the subsidies to expire next year, with some pointing to their high sticker price: $335 billion over the next decade.
| | | | A message from The American Association for Cancer Research: Federal funding is crucial to accelerate progress against cancer. On Wednesday, September 18, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will hold a congressional briefing to unveil the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024. Register to attend virtually and hear the latest statistics on cancer incidence, mortality, and survivorship and how increased federal investments are critical to advancing lifesaving cancer research. Register now. | | | | |
LIVE EVENT ON WEDNESDAY: THE FUTURE OF PATIENT CARE AND ACCESS
Join us on Wednesday, Sept. 18, starting at 8:30 a.m. ET, as we dive into how health care delivery innovations fueled by AI and tech are empowering providers to focus more time and resources on patients.
Watch our keynote conversation with HHS’ Micky Tripathi, assistant secretary for technology policy and acting chief artificial intelligence officer. Stick around for a panel conversation with Nancy Howell Agee, CEO of Carilion Clinic; Andrea Downing, president and co-founder of The Light Collective; Kolaleh Eskandanian, VP and CIO of Children’s National Hospital; and Hafeezah Muhammad, founder and CEO of Backpack Healthcare.
RSVP to attend and watch here. | | | | | | 
Mt. Bierstadt, Colo. | Shawn Zeller/POLITICO | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Eating ice cream is associated with reduced risk of heart disease, says a new study by Harvard researchers published in The Lancet. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp.
| | | | A message from The American Association for Cancer Research:   | | | | | | | 
Eshoo's bill would enable researchers long-term access to high-powered AI systems. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO | Legislation to give health care and other researchers long-term access to advanced artificial intelligence systems got a boost last week when the House Science Committee approved it by voice vote, our Mohar Chatterjee reports. The Create AI Act from Democrat Anna Eshoo of California, ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, would extend the National AI Research Resource, a pilot AI computing project. An executive order President Joe Biden issued in October launched NAIRR to give researchers access to AI systems at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Texas at Austin, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, and the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge and Argonne national laboratories. The Eshoo bill would authorize access to the systems at a cost of nearly $2.6 billion over six years, though appropriations legislation would set the final numbers. In May, the White House announced the first set of health care researchers who would use the systems. They plan to study images of tissue disease and videos of patients in intensive care, among other projects. What’s next? The bill can go to the House floor for passage.
| | | | A message from The American Association for Cancer Research: The tremendous strides made against cancer over the past several decades, including the advances outlined in the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024 releasing by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) on September 18, have depended on strong federal investments in medical and public health research. This year’s comprehensive report will include a spotlight on childhood and adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers, information about modifiable cancer risk factors such as alcohol use, and research on the economic impact of this disease. Register to attend the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024 virtual congressional briefing on September 18 at 11:30 a.m. ET to hear highlights from the report, listen to survivors who have benefited from recently approved anticancer therapeutics, and join the discussion on how Congress must take action to ensure that the U.S. continues to make progress against cancer for the benefit of all patients. Register now. | | | | | | | 
The conflict in Gaza could exacerbate the problem of antimicrobial resistence, public health specialists fear. | Abdel Kareem Hana/AP | Wars are fertile ground for bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics, which threatens the effectiveness of critical drugs globally. Scientists are particularly worried about the conflict in Gaza, POLITICO’s Rory O’Neill reports. Severe wounds that get no or limited treatment in an environment fouled by human and animal waste create the perfect breeding ground for drug-resistant bacteria, said Dr. Hanan Balkhy, an expert in antimicrobial resistance who leads the World Health Organization’s regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean, which includes North Africa and the Middle East. Heavy metals from bombs and destroyed buildings could be yet another factor for increased drug resistance, Antoine Abou Fayed, a microbiologist at the American University of Beirut, said. And because no working laboratories remain in Gaza, it’s impossible to test how widespread resistance is, Abou Fayed said. Why it matters: Antimicrobial resistance — when bacteria no longer respond to treatment — has been a major global health problem for years. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics, coupled with a collapse in the development of new antibiotics, have caused the proliferation of drug-resistant bacteria, contributing to some 5 million deaths in 2019 worldwide. Balkhy expects resistant bacteria from Gaza to spread elsewhere. What’s next? World leaders will meet at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City later this month to discuss the issue. They’re expected to set a goal of reducing “global deaths associated with bacterial antimicrobial resistance by 10 percent by 2030” compared with 2019. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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