Last week, the House passed a three-year clean extension of the enhanced advanced premium tax credits (APTCs), which expired December 31, 2025. While 17 Republicans supported the bill, it appears to be dead on arrival in the Senate. This week, we expect the release of a Senate bipartisan compromise bill, led by Sen. Moreno (R-OH), to temporarily extend the enhanced APTCs with reforms. Reforms could include minimum premium payments or Hyde amendment restrictions prohibiting any federally subsidized plan from covering abortion services, the latter of which has been a non-starter for Democrats. Whether that compromise bill can pass will depend on how much bipartisan support it has. Whether it is even brought up for a vote will depend on what House and Senate Republican leadership think of it.
Lawmakers will also be full steam ahead on fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations in advance of the January 30, 2026, expiration of certain agencies’ funding. The Senate will consider the minibus for three appropriations bills – Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment – that passed the House last week with broad bipartisan support. The House will then consider an additional package for Financial Services-General Government and National Security-State that was negotiated on a bicameral, bipartisan basis. That only leaves a few appropriations bills left for consideration this month, including Defense and Labor-Health and Human Services. Those two bills, as the most controversial, likely will move together and be considered last.
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee will continue this Congress’ emphasis on combatting fraud during a Tuesday hearing on detecting and preventing fraud in federal programs. Lawmakers likely will discuss the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) investigation of fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid program, which led CMS Administrator Oz to announce that the agency will withhold federal funding for 14 high-risk services in Minnesota’s program.
Later in the week, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission will meet. Commissioners will vote on draft recommendations to ensure payment adequacy and update payments for physician services, hospital inpatient and outpatient services, and hospice services, among others. Additional sessions will include status reports on Medicare Part D, the Medicare Advantage program, and ambulatory surgical centers.
In this week’s Healthcare Preview, Rodney Whitlock, Amy Kelbick, and Josh Jorgensen join Erin Fuller to break down what to watch in the Senate after the House advanced an extension of enhanced APTCs – and what it all signals for healthcare policy in 2026.
