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Dear Health Advocates,
Thank you to those who joined us last week for our 2026 Health Action Conference! We were so happy to be in community with the more than 700 people who attended as we learned and strategized around the most important issues facing health advocates in 2026 and beyond. We hope you're feeling refreshed and ready to continue the work as we enter this new year.
Congressional leadership continues its work on a bipartisan spending package, which it must pass by January 30 to avoid a partial government shutdown. The deal boosts defense funding and funds the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Education, and Homeland Security — albeit with funding cuts to some. Senate Democrats have demanded that DHS funding be separated from this bill, which has thrown the package into uncertainty. Additionally, the ACA enhanced premium tax credits will not be included.
Newly Launched! Stop the Bleed: Cut Costs, Not Care
As we have heard from so many Americans across the country, health care costs are way too high. Premiums have skyrocketed because the enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025, and corporate greed is at the root of skyrocketing health care costs.
As part of our continuing drumbeat around affordability, Families USA launched a new campaign: Stop the Bleed: Cut Costs, Not Care! [[link removed]] The goal of the campaign is to get candidates running for office in 2026 to commit to bringing down the cost of health care. Stop the Bleed will activate Families USA partners and advocates across the country to join us in engaging candidates in this effort.
You can find resources and ways to take action on our brand new campaign page, Stop the Bleed: Cut Costs, Not Care [[link removed]] , and check out our campaign launch here [[link removed]] .
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* Email Writing Campaign: Tell you members to pass an extension of the ACA premium tax credits and make health insurance more affordable for tens of millions of people! [[link removed]] Coalition on Human Needs.
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* NEW! Press Release: Families USA Launches New Campaign: “Stop the Bleed: Cut Costs, Not Care” [[link removed]] , Families USA.
* NEW! Press Release: New Report Finds Nonprofit Hospitals’ Billing Practices Burden Patients Despite Significant Tax Benefits Says [[link removed]] , Families USA.
* NEW! Report: The Full Scope of the Trump Administration’s Destructive Actions on Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Care [[link removed]] , PPFA.
* NEW! Report: Trump Administration’s Five-State Funding Freeze Is Unlawful, Harmful, and a Major Threat to People in Every State [[link removed]] , CBPP.
* NEW! Report: Trump’s (Second) First Year:New and Emerging Threats to Reproductive Rights [[link removed]] , [[link removed]] Center for Reproductive Rights.
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* UPCOMING! Webinar: Implementing New Medicaid Work Requirements: Strategies to Mitigate Harm in Your State * Please join Justice in Aging for a webinar on February 5 that will include a breakdown of H.R. 1's key provisions and clarify who the work requirements within the bill apply to. Presenters will discuss how exemptions & other protections should be implemented to prevent coverage loss & administrative burden, particularly among older adults & caregivers. Advocates will gain strategies & tools to use in the implementation & policy-setting stage to help ensure states comply with the law & adopt as many optional protections as possible. Register here [[link removed]] .


* Advocates Meeting: Wednesday Advocates Meeting Zoom call [[link removed]] , Coalition on Human Needs hosting every Wednesday at 9:30 AM ET.
* Shared Advocacy Calendar: Coalition on Human Needs [[link removed]] . Check out weeks of action and upcoming events
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National Resources
* Policy Agenda: Making Health Care Affordable: Reining In Health Industry Abuses To Lower People’s Costs and Generate Budget Savings [[link removed]] , Families USA.


* Summary: Case Explainer: Chianne D. v. Harris [[link removed]] , NHeLP


* Fact Sheet: The Importance of Premium Tax Credits: Affording Health Insurance Coast to Coast (Spanish) [[link removed]] , Families USA.


* Publication: Medicaid Work Requirements: Mitigating Harm through Implementation [[link removed]] , NHeLP.


* Fact Sheet: Why Health Insurance Premiums Continue to Skyrocket [[link removed]] , Families USA.


* Blog: Clarifying Access: What New Federal SNAP Restrictions and Guidance Mean for Immigrant Communities [[link removed]] , NILC.


* Toolkit: Mitigating the Harms of Medicaid Work Requirements for Older Adults: Tools for State Advocates [[link removed]] , Justice in Aging.

Insights blog: Republicans’ Harmful Budget Cuts and Attacks Are Undermining Immigrants’ Health Care [[link removed]] , Families USA.


* Blog: The Trump Administration’s Refusal to Feed American Families [[link removed]] , FRAC .


* Report: What’s in the government funding bill the Senate is moving, what isn’t, and what to watch next [[link removed]] , We Build Progress.


* Blog: Reducing or Eliminating the Title X Family Planning Program Would Restrict Contraceptive Access Nationwide [[link removed]] , Commonwealth Fund.


* Insights Blog: Smoke and Mirrors vs. Policy and Meaningful Change: What’s Real and What’s Political Theater in the Fight for Lower Prescription Drug Prices [[link removed]] , Families USA.


* Insights Blog: Sowing Distrust and Dismantling Science: Escalating Threats to Vaccine Access [[link removed]] , Families USA.


State Resources
* Insights Column: Medicaid State Directed Payment for Primary Care and Behavioral Health Providers: Opportunities that Remain and Challenges Ahead [[link removed]] , Families USA.


* Report: Mounting Pressures Usher in a New Budget Era [[link removed]] , Pew.
* Fact Sheet: State Policy Options to Address Health Care Consolidation and Lower Hospital Prices [[link removed]] , Families USA.


* Blog: Turning Lemons into Lemonade: State Applications Underscore the Limitations of OBBBA's Rural Health Transformation Program [[link removed]] , NHeLP.


* Fact Sheet: State Strategies for the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) [[link removed]] , Milbank Memorial Fund.


* Toolkit: Work Reporting Requirements: State Considerations When Defining Medical Frailty [[link removed]] , State Health and Value Strategies .


* Interactive Map: Tracking State Preparation for the Rural Health Transformation Program [[link removed]] , 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, [[link removed]] Center for American Progress.


Medicaid Defense
* Federal Guidance: CMS Issues New State Guidance on Transformative Medicaid Reforms [[link removed]] .


* Policy Brief: Medicaid: A Lifeline for Latines and Immigrants [[link removed]] , National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.


* Analysis: Medicaid Expansion Reduces Maternal Mortality: Medicaid Cuts Would Be Deadly for Mothers and Babies [[link removed]] , Families USA.


* Fact Sheet: Fact Sheet: Republicans Are Working to Gut Medicaid, a Lifeline for People With Mental Health Conditions and Opioid Addiction [[link removed]] , 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, [[link removed]] Families USA.


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CONNECT [[email protected]?subject=Wanting%20to%20connect&body=] GIVE FEEDBACK [[link removed]]
Have a great week,
Nate Keller
Partnerships Mobilization Associate
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