Congress tonight remains at a stalemate as the government shutdown enters its fourth week,

now the second longest in U.S. history. More than 700,000 federal workers are furloughed, and the

impact is becoming clear. Yesterday in Prince George's County, Maryland, home to roughly 60,000

federal employees, a line for a local food bank stretched around the block. For now, no serious

negotiations are underway to end the shutdown. And there's no movement yet on the central

battle behind the shutdown. That's the expiration of health care subsidies at the end of this year.

Millions of Americans are bracing themselves for a significant hike in their 2026 health insurance

premiums without that subsidy help, an average of about 18 percent increase. It comes as health

insurance costs are rising significantly throughout the country. A recent KFF survey found that

the average annual premium for a family with workplace insurance reached nearly $27,000 in 2025.

That is a 6% increase from the previous year.

For more on the latest, I'm joined now by Cynthia Cox,

Vice President and Director of the Program on the Affordable Care Act for KFF.

Cynthia, welcome. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

Just briefly remind us why these enhanced subsidies had an expiration date attached to them

in the first place.

Yeah, so these enhanced subsidies or enhanced tax credits look a lot like what Democrats have wanted

for a long time, but they were passed as part of a COVID relief package.

So it was passed as a temporary measure. And then it was expanded again as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

But again, it had an expiration date.

And so if Congress takes no action, these enhanced tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year.

...