Election 2026 Roundtable: The impact on health policy

Undoubtedly, the elections next month will bring changes to Congress, with the potential to impact key federal programs and aid for hospitals, health systems and all Americans seeking care.

Chief Healthcare Executive® assembled a roundtable featuring three experts analyzing the potential impact of the elections on healthcare programs.

Over a thoughtful and lively one-hour discussion, the panel analyzed the possible implications on funding for healthcare, research, the affordability for patients, strengthening the physician workforce, key legislation, and more.

Our panel featured three experts with deep knowledge of federal policy.

• Robert E. Andrews - The CEO of the Health Transformation Alliance, he spent 24 years in Congress representing part of New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Lisa Kidder Hrobsky - She’s the senior vice president of federal relations, advocacy and political affairs at the American Hospital Association.
• Danielle Turnipseed - She’s the chief public policy officer of the AAMC, the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Leading up to Election Day, we’ll be presenting portions from the conversation.

In our first segment, the panel looks at the landscape of the 2026 elections, the impact for funding for healthcare programs, and the possible ramifications for the National Institutes of Health.

The election landscape

The midterm elections will deliver significant changes in Congress. All 435 seats are up for grabs in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 35 seats are at stake in the Senate.

Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate, but our panel expects Democrats to win the majority in the House.

“I think we can all see sort of where the trend is going, with the Democrats likely picking up the House and possibly the Senate at this point,” Kidder Hrobsky said. “We do know that the Democrats have been fairly forthcoming with what their agenda might be. They're looking at affordability, and not just in healthcare.”

“I think you're also going to see a lot of accountability work from them, where they're looking to do oversight to see how things may have been done in the past two years and how they can reconcile that with the priorities that they have,” she said.

President Donald Trump remains in the White House, so even if Democrats win the House and Senate, she adds that there will be a good amount of partisan conflict.

“It's not going to be probably the most productive Congress, but I do think the Democrats have a large list of things they'd like to bring to the table,” she said.

One of the authors of the Affordable Care Act, Andrews projects Democrats will take the House but says it’s unclear if they’ll win the majority in the Senate.

He also expects standoffs and the possibility of government shutdowns, but he sees the potential for Democrats to potentially secure more money for health programs.

“This time, the Democrats will have more negotiating leverage,” Andrews said. “Being the minority party, they advocated for renewal of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) subsidies and a rollback of the Medicaid cuts, but being in the majority in the House, they'll have more leverage.”

Turnipseed said she’s curious to see how lawmakers vote on bills affecting health policy and funding in light of the elections.

“This is our time period to take the pulse of what the American people are thinking, and then it's up to Congress to translate that into action, particularly around issues that we know have given rise to great concern,” she said. “Medicare, we hear about often. Medicaid, we hear access to care. Let's see how those preferences of the people play out state by state, and what that means for the entire country.”

Prospects for funding

Even if Democrats take the House and Senate, with President Trump in the White House, there may not be dramatic swings in federal funding for health programs, including those supporting hospitals, health systems and other providers.

Andrews says it’s plausible that Trump will continue to push policy through executive orders and other regulations, which could wind up in the courts.

But Andrews also sees a scenario with annual shutdowns where Democrats could secure more funding for healthcare.

“I think we're headed toward some real legislative give-and-take at least once a year when we have the government shutdown drama,” Andrews said.

Andrews suggested it’s possible Trump would be willing to make concessions on healthcare funding with Democrats.“He is unpredictable,” Andrews said. “Now his supporters would say he's flexible and can get stuff done. His critics would say that he's erratic and can't decide what he wants to do. But I wouldn't rule anything out here.”

Kidder Hrobsky points to the fact that lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, have pushed back on the Trump administration’s planned funding cuts for health programs.

“There really is a lot of bipartisan support for funding in some of the programs,” she said.

Looking at spending for the National Institutes of Health, Turnipseed says there’s a good possibility that changes in Congress could lead to improved funding. But she says it’s important to recognize the bipartisan backing for the NIH, the chief source of federal funds for medical research.

“There's strong bipartisan support for NIH funding. We do expect Congress to continue to push back against any proposed cuts, and I'd like to see that funding stabilized and possibly increased to see some growth there,” Turnipseed said.

“There's no doubt that medical research has been threatened, especially over the past few years,” she said. “But what we've also seen is strong support from the American public, not just from Congress. There are many members of Congress, both sides of the aisle, both chambers, who have stood up for NIH, stood up for research, stood up for science, and I have to believe that that bipartisan support will continue.”