Today’s Big Story

Is the ACA in Trouble?

Millions may not have health coverage if subsidies return to pre-Biden level

Everyone from medical providers and insurance companies to everyday patients fear a coming shake-up in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. In the lead up to this month’s election, House Speaker Mike Johnson promised that Republicans would make “massive” changes to the Affordable Care Act if they won a government sweep. During the debate, Donald Trump said he had “ concepts of a plan” to replace the ACA.

With a trifecta now in hand, the president-elect and his party will soon have their chance to make good on those promises. Trump has a mixed record on supporting government health insurance policies like the ACA, which the Department of Health and Human Services estimated covers 45 million people in health plans like Medicare and Medicaid. Also in the hot seat: the enhanced federal ACA subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of next year.

According to the Washington Post, if subsidies fall to their pre-2021 level, experts say, many new subscribers would choose not to renew their coverage—the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that 3.4 million more people would become uninsured—and many of them live in states that lean heavily Republican. Health policy research organization KFF said that if the subsidy expansion expires, premiums would more than double in 12 heavily Republican states—including Texas, West Virginia and Alaska—while rising less sharply in many blue states.

The Biden-era enhanced subsidies have led to huge growth in the number of people who buy health-care coverage on the marketplace, booming from between 11.4 million and 12.7 million people each year from 2015 to 2021, to 21.4 million this year. The costs of health-care premiums are heavily subsidized for most people who buy plans on the marketplace, and more than 90% of those subscribers receive some level of subsidy currently.

And some experts belive that Republicans may go beyond simply letting Biden’s enhanced subsidies expire. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington has called on his party to find savings in federal health care programs, and some members will likely eye cuts to the ACA or Medicaid as a way to offset the cost of their tax plans.

Biden Allows Ukraine to Strike Russia With Long-Range U.S. Missiles

Some worry that the reversal in policy will trigger fury and fresh threats from Moscow

For the first time, President Biden has given Ukraine the green light to use powerful American long-range weapons for strikes inside Russia, a U.S. official told NPR on Sunday. The weapons are likely to be initially employed against Russian and North Korean troops in defense of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia, the officials said.

According to CNN, the decision follows a familiar pattern. “The White House refuses for months to grant a weapons request from Ukraine, fearing it would be escalatory. Kyiv loudly decries the refusal, and just when the request seems to have been parked, the Biden administration approves it.” Ukraine’s request for HIMARS, Abrams tanks, F16s—all followed a similar pattern of refuse and prevaricate, and then grant, almost at the moment when it is too late.

But the shift will also trigger fury and fresh threats from Moscow at a time of increasing uncertainty about the future course of its war. Sky News reports that President Vladimir Putin has warned the West they would be playing with fire if they allowed Ukrainian forces to launch Western-supplied cruise and ballistic missiles at Russia, saying it could even trigger a global conflict. But British and American officials have repeatedly advised their respective capitals not to be intimidated by Moscow’s sabre rattling.

The Worst Passwords of 2024

The list proves that we still suck at digital security

I don’t want to offend anyone, but if you’re using “123456” as your password in the year 2024, you deserve your account being hacked. Just kidding. But, this year NordPass' study was just released and the results are a little shocking.

The password manager's sixth annual list of the top 200 most commonly used passwords is pulled from a 2.5TB dataset of stolen logins taken from various sources, including the dark web, where cybercriminals often lurk and sell looted information. “The database includes only passwords that were leaked within a year,” a NordPass spokesperson told PCMag. “What we noticed this year is that in previous years, the vast majority of passwords were collected from breached databases. This year, the trend has slightly shifted with an increased number of passwords stolen using malware from individuals.”

The most used password worldwide is that old favorite—you guessed it, “123456”—which was also No. 1 last year. In the U.S., "123456" comes in second behind “secret,” though “123456” still takes the top spot for the most commonly used corporate password. “Password” is the third most popular code. “After analyzing six years' worth of data, we can say there hasn't been much improvement in people's password habits,” NordPass tells CNET. “So, despite many organizations' efforts to spread awareness, the problem is still as prevalent as ever.”

Airbnb's Roman Backlash

Their promotional gladiator experience at the Colosseum leads to outcry

Airbnb is always thinking up new promotional opportunities, but their latest—in conjunction with the film Gladiator II—seems to have backfired a bit. The travel company dangled an unusual possibility for fans of history, shields and very long movies: “Suit up and unleash your inner gladiator inside Rome’s legendary arena.” It promised the spectacle of a “thrilling showdown” by seasoned gladiators, a meal of “victuals like grapes, pomegranates, almonds, and walnuts,” and a faceoff with “fellow warriors.”

But not everyone was on board. “We can’t turn one of the world’s most important monuments into a theme park,” wrote Massimiliano Smeriglio, Rome’s councillor for culture, in an Instagram post, as translated by the social media site. Other culture officials sounded similar alarms in media reports. The tensions over the Colosseum-Airbnb arrangement come as popular European destinations such as Rome struggle to maintain their quality of life while dealing with influxes of tourists. Critics say the growing use of housing as short-term rentals, like Airbnbs, is contributing to housing shortages for locals in some cities.

This blowback is a different beast for the company. Lauren Donovan Ginsberg, a professor of classical studies at Duke University, told the Washington Post that the site was where gladiators, condemned prisoners and animals were killed, sometimes “in brutal ways designed for degradation and spectacle.”

Great Gifts for All Kinds of Dads

20 options for your old man, young dad or any father figure

Dads can be tough to shop for. They say they don't need much, right? Either they're simple creatures without many needs or they're just not the type of guy who treat themselves to whatever they want. But on the bright side, that means you could probably get him something he'd really like. You just need to think about what your father, or your partner or perhaps someone dad-like in your life, likes to do and how he prefers to spend his time. From an old-school, indigo-dyed sweatshirt or handsome pocket knife to a classic record player and an easier way for him to charge his devices, we've got a lot of your bases covered.

Remember what really matters.