Dear Health Advocates,

Congress is out this week on recess and we are just one week away from a potential government shutdown. Last week, House Republicans passed a continuing resolution (a CR), which would fund the government for seven weeks, until November 20. Their CR did not include any extension of the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.

Meanwhile, Democrats proposed their own version of a CR, which would extend the enhanced premium tax credits. Votes on both of these CRs failed in the Senate, meaning Congress has only two days once back in DC next week to pass a budget and avoid a shutdown.

All this makes this week a critical time to put pressure on lawmakers to extend the enhanced premium tax credits, or else health care premiums and costs will spike for people with marketplace coverage next year.

That's why we're asking you to join Families USA and Community Catalyst for a Lower Health Care Costs National Day of Action surrounding these premium tax credits this Thursday, September 25. You can find more details on our joint landing page (linked above), which includes resources such as:

• A link to call your member of Congress
• A link to email your member
• Social media toolkit
• New national and state fact sheets on the importance of these tax credits
• Letter to the editor template
• Press Release template

Health Action Conference

We also want to remind you that registration for Health Action Conference 2026 is OPEN! The conference will be held from January 22-23 here in Washington, DC at the Capital Hilton. Whether you're a HAC veteran or a first-timer, we hope you can join other dynamic health advocates from across the country to strengthen the movement for health and health care justice.

Find more details and register here. We also ask that you fill out our pre-conference survey to help us make HAC even better for advocates like you!

• Article: What the Trump Administration, RFK Jr., and the MAHA Report Got Wrong About Improving Children’s Health, Center for American Progress.
• Press Release: New Data Shows Need for Immediate Action from Congress to Extend Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, Families USA.
• Insights Blog: Secretary Kennedy’s Broken Promises and the Impact on Americans’ Health, Families USA.

• Webinar Recording: Priorities in 2026 MPFS and OPPS Proposed Rules, Families USA.

• Insights Blog: Planned Parenthood: Still Essential, Still Under Threat, Families USA.
• Fact Sheet: What’s Next for CMMI? Promise and Peril in the Latest Strategic Direction, Families USA.
• Insights Blog: A Trillion Dollar Cut to Care: The Fight for Medicare and Medicaid, Families USA.
• Fact Sheet: Federal Budget Reconciliation Law Implementation Timeline for Key Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplace Provisions, Families USA.
• Insights Blog: Timeline of Trump’s New Health Care Law: What You Need to Know, Families USA.
• Blog: A Cut by Any Other Name: How “Strengthening” Asset Tests Hurts Medicaid, NHeLP.

• Blog: Medicaid Work Requirements Will Take Away Coverage From Millions: State and Congressional District Estimates, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

• Insights Blog: Actions by Trump and Congress are Leading to Skyrocketing Insurance Premiums in 2026, Families USA.

• Video: 90 Seconds or Less Policy Explainers. Families USA.

• Interactive Map: Tracking State Preparation for the Rural Health Transformation Program, State Health & Value Strategies.
• Article: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act Will Increase the Number of Americans Without Health Coverage in Every State and Congressional District, Center for American Progress.
• One Pager: Protecting People with Substance Use Disorders and Formerly Incarcerated Individuals from Losing Medicaid Coverage: Recommendations on Implementing the H.R. 1 Work Reporting Requirements, Legal Action Center.

• Comments: Families USA Submits Comments On South Carolina’s Proposed Medicaid 1115 Demonstration Waiver, Families USA.

• Comments: Families USA Submits Comments On Preserving Medicaid Funding for Vulnerable Populations — Closing a Health Care-Related Tax Loophole Proposed Rule, Families USA.
• Comments: Families USA Submits Comments On the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan 1115 Demonstration Amendment, Families USA.

• Report: How Medicaid and SNAP Cutbacks in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Would Trigger Big and Bigger Job Losses Across States, The Commonwealth Fund

• Fact Sheets: Congressional Medicaid Fact Sheets, Families USA.

• Sign On Letter Wrap Up: More than 85 National Organizations Urge Senate to Reject “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” Health Care Cuts and Prioritize Transparency, Rigor of Analysis, and Constituents’ Health Access (06/15/2025), Families USA.
• Analysis: Medicaid Expansion Reduces Maternal Mortality: Medicaid Cuts Would Be Deadly for Mothers and Babies, Families USA.

• Fact Sheet: Fact Sheet: Republicans Are Working to Gut Medicaid, a Lifeline for People With Mental Health Conditions and Opioid Addiction, Protect Our Care.

• Insights Blog: Work Reporting Requirements Don’t Work: An in-depth look as Idaho moves closer to adding costly red tape to Medicaid, Families USA.

• Media Coverage of Families USA and State Partners Advocacy Work
  • WyoFile (Wyoming's independent, public-interest news service)  - Amid health care access worries, Wyoming could receive millions in short-term federal dollars
  • Capitol Beat (Georgia’s statewide nonprofit news outlet) -Health insurance changes coming to Georgia
  • Georgia Public Broadcasting - Georgia Today Sept 12 podcast story 8 - Health care advocates warned on Thursday that Georgia residents who have to find their own insurance in the government marketplace should expect significant rate increases next year. 

Have a great week,

Nate Keller

Senior Associate, Organizing and Mobilization

Families USA

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