HOW HOUSE DEMOCRATS COULD EXPAND OBAMACARE — If House Democrats get their way, Congress’ next coronavirus relief package will also double as the first major expansion of Obamacare subsidies in over a decade. Pieces of the aid proposal released Monday night would temporarily bolster the federal aid extended to Obamacare enrollees and expand the population eligible for subsidies, representing significant progress on a key plank of President Joe Biden’s health agenda weeks into his term, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein reports. The proposal, which is slated to be marked up by the Ways and Means Committee later this week, would, among other things: — Fully subsidize Obamacare coverage for people earning up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level, as well as those on unemployment insurance, for two years; — End the so-called subsidy cliff, qualifying enrollees who make over 400 percent of the federal poverty level subsidies for the first time, for two years; — Cover 85 percent of the cost of private health insurance for those laid off during the pandemic, through Sept. 21. The provisions are expected to be folded into Democrats’ broader aid package, and have long been at the core of Biden’s plans to gradually expand the Affordable Care Act. Still, some analysts are already warning it won’t be enough for those squeezed by the economic effects of the pandemic. “Fifteen percent of an employer-based plan could still be more than $200 per month for family coverage,” Stan Dorn, a health expert at Families USA, said of what those who are laid off would need to pay under the proposal. HHS’ CIVIL RIGHTS OFFICE SCRUBS TRUMP POLICIES — The department’s Office of Civil Rights stripped its website of several references to Trump-era initiatives, POLITICO’s Darius Tahir reports. It’s an early sign that after four years with “culture war” issues at the forefront of the agency, the office’s focus will be elsewhere under the Biden administration. — What got deleted: A video forum on protecting religious liberty during the pandemic featuring Trump OCR head Roger Severino is no longer on the homepage, along with sections related to a proposed rule on care for infants born alive after an attempted abortion. Also gone is a solicitation for information on discrimination against people with disabilities that the Trump administration issued in its final week. ILYSE HOGUE LEAVING NARAL — In May, Hogue will step down as head of NARAL Pro-Choice America, the prominent abortion rights activist announced Monday — a decision that came in the wake of Democrats winning full control of Washington for the first time during her eight-year tenure. Hogue helped build the organization into one of the most visible foes of abortion restrictions in U.S. politics. She also worked closely with the Democratic Party, serving on its platform committee in 2016 and 2020, and last cycle directing NARAL’s largest-ever electoral program aimed at flipping the Senate and winning the White House. — Under Hogue, NARAL’s membership ballooned from 500,000 to 2.5 million, the organization said. Its annual budget is now $34 million, up from $9 million when she first took over. Yet her time atop NARAL coincided with the federal judiciary’s rightward turn. Red states have pared back abortion access in recent years, and a conservative majority sits on the Supreme Court. “The peril to reproductive freedom comes from the courts,” Hogue told The New York Times , adding that securing abortion rights has become once more a central priority for Democrats. “I think that politically it is not a salable point anymore that you can’t be an active champion.” | 
