The government closed early Wednesday morning after Congress failed to pass a funding bill, which had a significant impact on health care, including the Future of Telemedicine Flexibility and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage.
The closure sparked strong opposition from the healthcare community. For example, patient advocacy groups families criticized Congressional leaders for not expanding the ACA's enhanced senior tax credit.
These enhanced subsidies (which will expire at the end of the year) were launched in 2021 and lower monthly premiums for those who purchase coverage in the market. Subsidies are a key point between Democrats and Republicans, with Democrats calling for an extension, while Republicans say negotiations should be held after the fund is approved.
“We should not need shutdowns to prevent a massive surge in health insurance premiums. After election affordability, Republican leaders are betraying their voters with the willingness to shut down the administration to avoid expanding the tax credits to help more than 20 million working-class Americans affordable health care,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of American Family. “When Republicans in Congress passed huge permanent tax credits for billionaires and big corporations this summer, they blocked multiple attempts and amendments to similarly expand the tax credits to help working families pay their health insurance premiums.”
According to KFF, if the enhanced subsidy expires, premiums for out-of-pocket expenses will increase by 114%, from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.
Another key issue for the closure is the expiration of Medicare telemedicine flexibility, which expires Tuesday and will expire on Tuesday unless Congress includes it in the next funding bill. The flexibility introduced during the Common 19 pandemic expanded Medicare’s virtual care qualifications that were previously limited to patients in rural areas and required them to be on approved original sites, such as hospitals or physician offices. Now that flexibility has expired, Medicare Telemedicine will resume its pre-pandemic requirements.
The American Telehealth Association calls on Trump and Congress to restore these flexibility and retroactively reimburse providers who still provide telehealth services during the closure.
“Most providers and hospital systems take the calculated risks during this period to continue care, but long-term continuity depends on the actions of our telehealth champion in Washington to restore these flexibility and ensure retroactive reimbursement,” said Kyle Zebley, senior vice president of public policy at ATA Action Action Action and ATA. “Since the pandemic five years ago, Medicare patients woke up this morning without telehealth insurance. Our healthcare services are fading and are very short of millions of patients in need.”
Executives at a brain health company also expressed concern about the uncertainty of Medicare's telemedicine flexibility.
“It is likely that telehealth benefits will be extended, but our staff and patients have many problems with their position,” said Dr. Julius Bruch, co-founder and CEO of Isaac Health. “In areas like dementia care, where neurologists are already few and not enough to care for an aging population, the miracle of telehealth can increase access, and the potential for this disappearance is harmful not only to people with dementia, but also to their caregivers and other loved ones.”
Another industry follower is concerned about how the closure will affect those who rely on government-funded programs, such as the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“If this shutdown lasts more than a month, which is a possibility given the last shutdown was 34 days, those experiencing food insecurity across the country may see a delay in SNAP benefits, as government foundation for the program will only last about a month. We risk creating more non-medical barriers to health, like lack of access to food or transportation to doctor appointments, which can account for up to 80% of a person's health,” said Cindy Jordan, CEO and co-founder of PYX Health, a company involved in PYX Health.
Photo: Zimmytws, Getty Images
