Congress

Insurers point to providers, drugmakers for driving up health costs

Published

8 months ago

January 22, 2026

Health insurance CEOs testifying before Congress about whether they’re to blame for soaring health care costs have a plan: pass the buck.

Five CEOs of major insurers will make the case that the health care premiums they set are rising because of prices charged by other health care players — like hospitals and drugmakers — according to their prepared testimony.

The insurer blueprint comes as the industry is under immense public and political pressure to address rising health care costs, especially after enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expired last year, sending Obamacare premiums skyrocketing for millions.

The well-heeled CEOs of some of America’s biggest insurance companies aren’t used to groveling, but want to keep lawmakers on their side and avoid any viral moment under cross-examination. The questioning could be tough, considering President Donald Trump called their firms “money sucking Insurance Companies” this month on Truth Social.

The CEOs will testify before the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Thursday morning, before facing the Ways and Means panel later in the day. In their testimonies, they’ll attempt to reverse the narrative that they’re at fault for how unaffordable American health care has become.

“The cost of health insurance is driven by the cost of health care. It is a symptom, not a cause,” said UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley in his prepared testimony. “Premium rates are based on two key factors: how much care is used and how much is charged for that care. When the price of care goes up and care activity increases, the cost of health coverage necessarily follows.”

Whether the administration buys that is a different story.

Trump has applied pressure, calling on the companies to slash prices and saying he’d convene the CEOs to secure commitments similar to ones he’s received from the pharmaceutical industry to reduce drug prices.

In their testimony, the CEOs will highlight affordability-related policies they hope Congress will take up — from reforming how providers are paid to digitizing Americans’ health records. The insurers plan to emphasize steps they’ve taken, including commitments to the Trump administration last year to speed up their processes for approving treatments.

Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest insurer, pledged in his testimony to return any profits the company makes on Obamacare plans in 2026 to customers.

“Our message as an industry is that we’re advocates for affordability,” Mike Tuffin, CEO of health insurance trade group AHIP, told Blue Light News. “We’re the only part of the system that gets up every day working to lower costs. We’re doing everything we can to shield consumers from high and rising health care costs.”

Elevance Health CEO Gail Boudreaux plans to point out that hospital care, doctor services and prescription drugs “have been the largest contributors” to rising U.S. health care spending, which grew 7.2 percent to $5.3 trillion in 2024. Cigna CEO David Cordani will highlight data showing hospital prices surged in recent decades — a trend he says has been compounded by hospital acquisitions and private-equity ownership of provider practices.

Some of the executives plan to compare insurers’ thin profit margins to other health care industries’. Insurer profit margins were about 1.8 percent in 2025, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Drug companies’ margins are between 20 to 40 percent, Cordani plans to point out.

Hospitals and drug companies have long made the case that insurers aren’t so innocent. The American Hospital Association, in a statement submitted ahead of the hearing, said “actions by many commercial insurers erect barriers that make it more difficult for patients to receive timely access to needed medical care.”

Congress

GOP Senator wants to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. over Russian-funded wedding

Published

2 hours ago

September 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A Senate Republican from Utah is asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. following reports that the president’s son had parts of his wedding paid for by a Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sen. John Curtis’ request, which comes following a news story by ProPublica, marks a significant break with President Donald Trump from a member of his own party.

“Questions have arisen about the relationships of President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., with foreign business figures and the acceptance of significant gifts. These include a lavish wedding afterparty, on a private island, provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who reportedly traveled to China as part of a delegation accompanying Vladimir Putin shortly before giving the gift,” Curtis wrote in a letter dated Sept. 21 to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

“These concerns are compounded by Donald Trump Jr.’s active promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, his continued pursuit of international real estate deals involving direct meetings with foreign heads of state, and his reported investments in defense contracting,” Curtis added.

Curtis, also noting the profits the Trump family has made through cryptocurrency deals, indicated this incident is part of a broader pattern where the relatives of U.S. presidents can improperly leverage their proximity to power.

In addition to probing Trump Jr., Curtis asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who over the years found himself enveloped in numerous self-dealing scandals. Both men, he said, should testify “regarding their past business dealings, relationships with foreign individuals and entities, gifts, or other benefits they have received, and any instances in which their relationship to the President was invoked or understood to provide value.”

“The country should not have to accept one standard for the family of a Republican president and another for the family of a Democratic president. Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the White House changes hands,” Curtis said.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday, but it’s unlikely that Trump, who demands loyalty from the GOP, will consider the bipartisan nature of Curtis’ request to be anything other than a personal affront.

Trump said in a statement he has “no idea who Umar is” and that he has “never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding.”

Kremlev is president of the International Boxing Association and received an Order of Friendship medal from Putin for his “contribution to international sport and his commitment to the global boxing family.” He’s also been sanctioned by the Ukrainian government for his ties to Putin.

A spokesperson for Judiciary Committee Republicans confirmed Grassley was in receipt of the letter but could not commit to investigating the matter. The spokesperson noted that hearing dates are extremely limited through the end of 2026 and investigative hearings usually take months of background work before they can be scheduled.

It’s sure to be an issue Democrats pursue if they win the majority in either chamber next year. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote to the White House and Donald Trump Jr. last week demanding information about the president’s son’s ties to Kremlev.

Cheyanne M. Daniels contributed to this report.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Senate GOP eyes exit plan as trail calls

Published

3 hours ago

September 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senators dreaming of the smell of jet fumes might get their wish.

The chamber, initially scheduled to be in session until the beginning of October, is instead eyeing departure by the end of the week. To get there, though, Republicans will need to strike a time agreement with Democrats to fast-track the remainder of their work.

And while GOP members are antsy to spend more time in their states campaigning ahead of the midterms, some in their ranks are also uncomfortable that their final agenda items aren’t doing more to address issues voters increasingly care about — like the cost of living, data centers or AI safety.

For now, senators’ agenda includes: a sweeping college athletics bill, an Iran war powers resolution, a handful of nominees — including for labor secretary — and potential votes to roll back California’s stricter standards for vehicle emissions.

So far Democrats haven’t tipped their hand on whether they will agree to speed up consideration of the college sports legislation. Without a deal, the bill will drag into at least Friday evening, but Democrats first want details about the entire pre-recess agenda, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose private deliberations.

Whether the Senate will get around to doing something — anything — to address public alarm about the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence or pass permitting reform legislation remains to be seen.

Discussions are ongoing about whether the chamber will take a vote on Sen. Jon Husted’s so-called Ratepayer Protection Act, which aims to curb the energy costs associated with data centers.

Negotiators dragged past what was viewed as an unofficial deadline (over the weekend) to reach a deal to streamline energy permitting before the midterms.

Also to potentially get the boot if senators leave this week: a planned Senate Judiciary hearing next week with former special counsel Jack Smith.

Chair Chuck Grassley, asked last week, said “we gotta go ahead with that” hearing but added that he hasn’t grappled with an early dismissal: “Gosh, I haven’t thought about that.”

An aide of his chimed in saying the committee is “working on options” but that “it’s hard with the uncertainty” of the schedule.

What else we’re watching:

— SOARING DIESEL COSTS EXPOSE GOP SPLITS: Several farm state Republicans this week have all but begged President Donald Trump to do something to lower record-high diesel prices fueled by the Iran war, even if it means crossing their traditional allies in the oil and gas sector. The cacophony of outcry puts pressure on GOP leaders and exposes divisions among Republicans as members grapple with an unpopular war led by the president. Grassley posted over the weekend that high diesel prices are “KILLING FARMERS INCOME” and urged Trump to “put an embargo on diesel exports like presidents in the 70s put embargoes on ag products bc food prices were inflated.” Michigan’s GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers on Monday also threw his support behind a “temporary embargo” on diesel exports and called for an end to the Iran war, as did Iowa Senate candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson in a Monday morning post. Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks also called for diesel price relief.

— JEFFRIES SNAPS BACK AT GOLDEN: Hakeem Jeffries slammed exiting Rep. Jared Golden’s endorsement of a battleground Republican Monday, showcasing a rare display of frustration by the minority leader against a member who’s bucked his party multiple times this month. Jeffries and Democratic leaders were already weighing potential punishment for Golden after he twice in recent weeks was a key vote unfreezing Republicans’ floor agendas. On Monday, Golden twisted the proverbial knife by endorsing Rep. Mike Lawler in a district Democrats are spending millions of dollars in in an effort to flip. “Mike Lawler is an unadulterated phony who has never shown bipartisan courage when it matters,” Jeffries wrote in a statement that didn’t mention Golden by name. “In desperation, he is peddling an 11th hour endorsement from a retiring Congressmember who represents an out of town district more than 400 miles away.”

Jordain Carney, James Bikales, Rachel Shin and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.