U.S. Budget & OBBB | OCT 1 - Gov’t Shutdown Begins

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🎁 —> https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/...f?st=72WHYG&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

“… Shares of insurers operating in the Affordable Care Act exchanges have surged in recent weeks. In effect, investors are betting that enhanced subsidies for these plans will be extended. But even if that happens, some of these insurers still face structural problems that one policy reprieve won’t fix.

In the years leading up to Donald Trump’s second presidency, Medicare Advantage plans were squeezed while Medicaid and ACA exchange plans benefited from pandemic-era rules that boosted enrollment and funding.

… The unwinding of that support—combined with Republican control of both Congress and the White House—flipped the script. The outlook for Medicare Advantage may now be improving, but Medicaid and ACA exchange plans have suffered as enrollment declined and healthier members dropped out, leaving a costlier pool behind.

At the same time, healthcare costs have accelerated more than insurance companies expected. This explains why Centene CNC -1.04%decrease; red down pointing triangle and Molina HealthcareMOH 2.18%increase; green up pointing triangle shares were sharply lower this year, before partly rebounding in recent weeks. They both still remain down 35% or more this year.

Their rebound rally comes as Wall Street bets that the Biden-era enhanced subsidies for ACA plans, set to expire at year-end, could be renewed as part of a broader deal to end the shutdown. Democrats have made that a condition for reopening the government, and reports suggest Republicans are exploring ways to make an extension acceptable to their base. That is far better than what investors expected months ago, when Republicans left the subsidy extensions out of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” …”
 
“
The Department of the Interior plans to “imminently” fire at least 2,000 employees across the agency, including hundreds of people working at the National Park Service, the agency revealed in a Monday legal filing.

The department is prepared to lay off at least 189 people across the Park Service’s Northeast, Southwest, and Pacific West regional offices alone, according to the filing. Those regional offices oversee dozens of iconic parks including Yosemite National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Acadia National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

… It’s possible that the Interior Department is planning on laying off many more employees in areas that are not represented by unions. The park system has already lost about one-quarter of its full-time staff over the last year, according to estimates from the National Parks Conservation Association. …”
www.notus.org

Interior Department Cuts Would Hit Major National Parks, Per New Court Filing

The Interior Department’s reduction-in-force plans include hundreds of workers for the National Park Service, and employees managing oil and gas leasing in Utah.
www.notus.org www.notus.org
 
wmheel1287 said:
Thats an entirely different discussion than the point I replied to. You said that the ACA hasn't accomplished anything with regard to cost. Thats untrue. A big part of that is keeping more people in the pool. If lots of people drop from the pool because of a sudden change in subsidies, lots of things will unravel quickly and costs will spiral.
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rodoheel said:
Why would he do that? He doesn't want to end the shutdown.
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This. Republicans can end the shutdown today, without a single Democratic vote, by changing Senate rules. That they are not means at least one of two things: (1) Republicans have such reverence for Senate rules and norms that they wouldn't dare touch them; or (2) They are cool with the shutdown.

There is plenty of evidence that #1 isn't true: Changing filibuster rules to confirm Gorsuch (widely termed a "nuclear option"); changing rules to allow confirmation of nominees in blocks in September (widely termed a "nuclear option"); denying Merrick Garland a vote; etc.
 
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