Forbes November 20, 2025
The government shutdown that ended last week exposed a familiar pattern in healthcare policymaking. A dispute over whether temporary ACA subsidies should be extended escalated into a 43-day standoff that snarled air travel, caused millions of federal workers to miss paychecks, disrupted SNAP food benefits and slowed the economy.
The shutdown should prompt policymakers and industry leaders to confront why healthcare costs keep rising and why the system remains resistant to reform. Lasting progress demands an honest examination of structural forces that push costs upward.
The public narrative of the shutdown centered around a narrow dispute over ACA subsidies. Democrats argued that allowing enhanced subsidies that were put in place during the pandemic to expire as planned would dramatically increase...
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