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President Biden called on Congress to extend the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, tax credits on Friday after a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report highlighted national healthcare disparities. “A new report from the Congressional Budget Office underscores just how critical the legislation to bring down health care costs, enacted under my Administration, have been,” Biden said in the statement. (Fields, 12/7)

Congressional Democrats have privately proposed a deal to Republicans that would extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies by one year, with lawmakers worried by new estimates that 2.2 million people will otherwise lose health coverage, according to five people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the proposal. The move accompanied a broader package of health-care proposals submitted to Republicans on Thursday night ahead of year-end spending negotiations. (Diamond and Roubein, 12/6)

Far from the crime scene, inaction on Capitol Hill could soon make healthcare plans more expensive, potentially adding to the country’s uninsured rate amid rising premiums for the people who keep paying for coverage. The root of the problem is a tax subsidy that helps people buy coverage offered through the Affordable Care Act’s exchange. Approximately 20 million people are using the tax credit this year, according to one count. (Keshner, 12/7)

During Trump’s one debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he was criticized for saying he had “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act, the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. It’s not clear Trump’s ideas have evolved further. “Obamacare stinks,” he said. “If we come up with a better answer, I would present that answer to Democrats and to everybody else and I’d do something about it.” (Nicholas, 12/8)

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said Saturday he’s still undecided on how he’ll vote on a Pentagon policy bill he helped negotiate after Republicans insisted on language aimed at medical treatments for transgender children. The comments from Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) could signal some Democrats will have difficulty supporting the must-pass bill when it hits the House floor in the coming days and complicate its passage as a year-end deadline to get it to President Joe Biden’s desk nears. (O’Brien, 12/7)

A bipartisan group of senators grilled Food and Drug Administration officials Thursday on the agency having not more tightly regulated ultra-processed foods and food dyes, highlighting a key part of the health agenda promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, has blamed the nation’s surge of chronic disease and declining life expectancy on ultra-processed foods — a position that aligns with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who convened the hearing as chairman of the Senate health committee. (Roubein, 12/5)

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to publicly disclose more information underpinning its authorization of COVID-19 vaccines, after failing to persuade the court to end the public records lawsuit. In a ruling, on Friday, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas, ordered the agency to produce its “emergency use authorization” file to a group of scientists who wanted to see licensing information that the FDA relied on to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. (Scarcella, 12/6)

Restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors and barring trans women from women's sports teams covered by Title IX are just some of the policies that Trump's campaign has said will be under consideration once he is in office. Local advocates, trans people and their families, as well as national LGBTQ organizations are preparing for these potential Trump administration actions. (Diaz, 12/7)