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Axios  -  Pressure on Congress to renew expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies is likely to ramp up this fall as notices of 2026 premium increases go out and consumers get their first warnings that huge rate hikes could be coming. Backers of renewing the enhanced tax credits, which expire at the end of this year, hope the sticker shock could motivate Republicans to get behind a short-term reauthorization to avoid an uproar over premium increases in an election year.

"This is going to rain starting in October; people are going to start getting these notices," said Leslie Dach, chair of the Democratic-aligned group Protect Our Care. "And it comes right to your doorstep, right to your mailbox." Republicans in Congress, he said, are not "going to do anything until they see the light of their constituents' eyes here … so the most important thing is to be sure people know what's going on."

Out-of-pocket premium costs for over 20 million enrollees in the ACA marketplaces will increase by an average of 75% if the enhanced subsidies expire at the end of this year, according to KFF. Congressional scorekeepers also project 4.2 million more people would become uninsured over a decade.  That puts Republicans in a bind heading into the midterm elections: stuck between resisting an expansion of the ACA and the fear of steep health cost increases for their constituents.

 Axios - Trump health officials are considering a policy that would limit hospitals' ability to participate in Medicare and Medicaid if they perform gender-affirming medical procedures for transgender youth. Hospitals are highly dependent on payment from public health insurance.

• Medicare and Medicaid covers at least two-thirds of inpatient days at more than 80% of hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association.

The proposed policy change landed at the White House for review yesterday, according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs' website.

• The rule is expected to prevent hospitals that provide gender-affirming procedures for minors from getting paid by Medicare or Medicaid, the National Review reported.

Trump administration health officials didn't respond to questions about which procedures or services would be prohibited.  Read more