Health Care — Medicare Part B premiums are rising. So are private health insurance costs.

Presented by the American Association for Cancer Research — People are going to be paying more for health insurance next year.

View Online Health Care Health Care PRESENTED BY THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH The Big Story  Medicare Part B premiums are rising. So are private health insurance costs.  Americans are going to be paying more for health insurance next year. As rising costs remain a national concern, more expensive insurance will likely strain people's budgets.  © AP A notice released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Friday stated standard Medicare Part B premiums would rise by 9.7 percent or $17.90 starting in 2026. This jump is almost double the percentage increase seen from 2024 to 2025.    The deductible for all Part B enrollees next year will be $283.    The Trump administration claimed the increase would have been higher had CMS not acted on skin substitutes earlier this year.   Skin substitutes are biologic or synthetic products used for outpatient wound care and the Health and Human Services Department Office of Inspector General found earlier this year it was "particularly vulnerable to questionable billing and fraud schemes."    "If the Trump Administration had not taken action to address unprecedented spending on skin substitutes, the Part B premium increase would have been about $11 more a month," CMS said in a statement.    On the private side, the large increase in premiums is being driven primarily by increased spending on health care. According to a recent survey from KFF, employers are singling out drug prices as a factor contributing to higher premiums in recent years.     Significant shares of firms also cited the prevalence of chronic disease, higher utilization of services and hospital prices.      KFF said it expects deductibles and other forms of cost-sharing may climb as companies look to push more costs of medical care onto employees.    And health care costs are top of mind for U.S. voters. Polling conducted by PerryUndem earlier this year found that 69 percent of voters believe that health care is not affordable today; this metric remains consistent across party lines.    Sixty-three percent of participants said they blamed insurance companies the most for medical debt, and 67 percent of voters said they agreed that the U.S. needs to switch to a different system of health insurance.  Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: NIH funding cuts have impacted more than 74,000 people enrolled in trials: Report More than 74,000 people have had their lives disrupted by Trump administration cuts to clinical trials supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to a report released Monday.   From the end of February to August, the administration's unprecedented broadside against the NIH resulted in funding losses for 383 clinical trials, new research published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found.  The cuts impacted trials disproportionately …  Full Story Pence group rips Trump's drug pricing plan in new ad campaign An ad unveiled Monday from a conservative group led by former Vice President Mike Pence is taking aim at President Trump's signature drug pricing policy.  A six-figure digital ad campaign from Advancing American Freedom (AAF) calls the White House's "most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing as “socialist price controls."  However, the ad doesn't mention Trump at all. Instead, it shows images of typical Republican …  Full Story RFK Jr. says new dietary guidelines coming soon: 'We're ending the war on saturated fats' Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday that new dietary guidelines are expected to be released next month that will end the “war on saturated fats.” Speaking at the Food Allergy Fund Leadership Forum, Kennedy discussed the actions the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken under his leadership, including incentivizing a reduction in petroleum-based food dyes and increasing …  Full Story On Our Radar  Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday about health costs— expect Republicans to float ideas on how they will deal with premium spikes if and when the Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits expire.   A MESSAGE FROM AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH   Sustained and Robust Federal Funding Saves Lives AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025 shows federal funding helped prevent 4.75M deaths from major cancers. Cancer Research Saves Lives®. Read the report. In Other News  Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Canada loses measles elimination status after ongoing outbreaks Canada is no longer measles-free because of ongoing outbreaks, international health experts said Monday, as childhood vaccination rates fall and the highly contagious virus spreads across North and South America. The loss of the country's measles elimination status comes more than a year after the highly contagious virus started spreading. … Full Story Around the Nation  Local and state headlines on health care: Eye surgeon's challenge of North Carolina law could upend how health care facilities are regulated (North Carolina Health News)  Michigan Board of Education updates health, sex education standards for first time in over a decade (Michigan Public)  Imprisoning women? Banning IUDs? South Carolina considers abortion bill that would be nation's strictest (Los Angeles Times)  What We're Reading  Health news we've flagged from other outlets: ByHeart infant formula recall tied to botulism outbreak puts parents on edge (NBC)  The cheap health insurance promoted by Trump officials has this catch (Washington Post)  Trump's broadside against health insurers is a cautionary tale for industry (Politico)  What People Think  Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill: The government has reopened, but Congress must protect HIV funding for 2026 How Republicans can rescue the party and do something good for Americans   You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Check out The Hill's Health Care page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? 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