SNAP decision, Open Enrollment, Electricity Prices Increase

0:01The Trump administration suspended SNAP food benefits in the U. today, the first time since the anti-hunger program began 60 years ago. And so what is the plan to bring it back? I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Aisha Roscoe. This is Up First from NPR News. It's open enrollment season. If you're not insured through your job or Medicare, it's time to go shopping for coverage. But with higher premium costs and a government shutdown, signing up this year will be different. We'll tell you how. The rising cost of electricity has sparked anger in New Jersey and Virginia, and it's becoming a factor in next week's elections for governor.

0:42And the frustration is sending a current through the country. Please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend.

0:58Support for NPR and the following message come from NBC News. When the news feels overwhelming, NBC News brings clarity by reporting on the facts that shape daily life for Americans, coverage that looks deeper, and stories that connect. NBC News, reporting for America. This message comes from Mattress Firm. Is your partner's tossing and turning stealing your sleep? Even small movements can disrupt your rest. That's where Mattress Firm comes in. Their sleep experts will match you with a Tempur-Pedic mattress built with temper material to absorb motion, helping you sleep undisturbed. For the great sleep you deserve, visit Mattress Firm and upgrade to a Tempur-Pedic with next-day delivery.

1:40They make sleep easy. Restrictions apply. Next-day delivery available on select mattresses and subject to location. See store for details. This message comes from Dell Technologies. Your new Dell PC with Intel Core Ultra helps you handle a lot when your holiday to-dos get to be a lot. Luckily, the Dell PC helps you get it all done. Get yours at dell.com slash holiday. For the first time in six decades, there are no snap food benefits available for millions of people today. On Friday, two federal judges said this pause is likely unlawful. President Trump said he's open to keeping SNAP going despite the government shutdown.

2:20But the question is how and when. NPR's Jennifer Ludden joins us now. Jennifer, thanks for being with us. Hi there. Trump administration says there's just no money available to fund SNAP. What did both of the federal judges say about that? Well, they said Congress has provided more than$5 billion in emergency funds, and it's for exactly this kind of situation. They rejected the administration's argument that it cannot legally use that. They said it not only can, but must. In Rhode Island, Judge John McConnell Jr. called for this to happen as soon as possible. The other judge, Indira Talwani in Boston, said officials could also tap more money from customs revenue, but she left that decision up to them.

3:03Both judges gave the administration until Monday to come back with a plan for how it will proceed. But does this mean that people who count on this assistance might see it sometime soon? That is a good question. And the only answer right now is we really don't know. I mean, first, will the administration appeal? Second, if they agree to only tap the contingency funds, that falls well short of SNAP's November budget, which is$9 billion. So the people would not get the full amount they qualify for. And in that case, the administration has said, you know, calculating partial payments is a logistical nightmare that could take time, especially in the middle of a shutdown.

3:43And then as for President Trump, a few hours after these rulings, he addressed them in a social media post. He said he's instructed his lawyers to clarify with the court how they can legally fund SNAP. And if they do, he said, it will be my honor to provide funding just like I did with the military and law enforcement pay. If the administration decides to pay people at least some part of their regular SNAP food benefits. How would that break down? How would it work? We really don't know. Again, this has not happened before. I've not seen a public plan for how to do it. I did speak, though, with an agriculture department employee who works on SNAP, and they agreed it would be challenging and even beyond logistics.

4:23This person asked me not to use their name for fear of retribution, and also they're not authorized to speak with media. But they said, for one thing, if you have partial funding, do you give it only to the most needy? Or do you give people, you know, half their regular amount, maybe three quarters? And states would want to say in that. But also, how do you divide partial funding among states? I know the employee wondered if this administration might decide to give some states more SNAP money than others. And Jennifer, where does this leave the millions of people who aren't getting federal food aid beginning today?

4:58Scott, it leaves them in need. You know, it is a lot of money that is disappearing from people's food budgets. We don't know for how long. Food policy experts say no amount of amping up food banks can come anywhere close to making up this difference. But, of course, it does help, and we see more states and cities shifting money for it. Soon after yesterday's rulings, Oklahoma's governor announced a vote to send a million dollars a week to food banks for SNAP recipients for up to seven weeks if needed. And Pierce Jennifer Ludden, thanks so much. Thank you.

5:36Open enrollment begins today on healthcare.gov, the Affordable Care Act marketplace. People who don't get health insurance through their job, Medicare, or Medicaid have to now shop for coverage. And this year's sign-up season will be different. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin joins us now. Selena, thanks for being with us. Hi, Scott. Good to be with you. What do people who enroll in these plans need to know this year? Well, they need to know that their premium might be significantly higher. And that is because something called enhanced subsidies that Congress first passed in 2021 are expiring. And that extra help to buy health insurance is something that millions of people have relied on in the last few years.

6:15In fact, 24 million people have these plans. They're small business owners, farmers, ranchers. And as open enrollment begins this year, the federal government is shut down. And these subsidies are a central issue. Either lawmakers make a deal, and premiums stay about the same as they have been this year, or they don't, and premium costs go way up. How much could they go up? On average, people will have to pay double next year for the same plan. That's a lot, right? But from person to person, it might be more than that. It might be less. It depends on where you live, your age, your income, and more.

6:51Also, to be clear, there will still be some federal subsidies. Even if there's no deal, they just won't be as generous. What would seem to be the best advice for people who get their health insurance this way? Yeah, I would say the best advice is don't panic until you see what's happening with your plan in your circumstances. The source of that advice is Jeremy Smith. Obamacare open enrollment is his busiest time of the year. He works for an organization called First Choice Services in Charleston, West Virginia, and their job is to help people sign up for these plans. We've already booked, I think, over 300 appointments.

7:29And he says, you know, this year, people who are calling are anxious. There's been a lot of stories about rate increases, so they are nervous. And we're just encouraging them to go through the process and look at the new plans and prices because we don't know exactly what they're going to be looking at until we do the application. He says what you shouldn't do is be hands-off and let your current plan auto-renew. because the cost for 2026 might be dramatically different. Selina, is there a chance Congress could make a deal that would extend the enhanced subsidies? Yeah, I would say there's a decent chance.

8:05Democrats are pushing hard to extend the subsidies, and many Republicans say they're open to a deal. The problem has just been getting everyone to the table to negotiate. So because of that, one option would be to wait to sign up for a plan for a few weeks in case lawmakers do make a deal and your options change. There is another thing, too, that I wanted to mention that's different this year that is getting a lot less attention than the premium cost increases. And what's that? Well, the Trump administration cut 90 percent from federal navigator grants available to organizations that help people sign up for plans like First Choice Services.

8:41They also did this in President Trump's first term. And I asked Jeremy Smith what that means for his budget. That puts us down from around a staff of 12 to only one that's funded through the Navigator program. They were able to get some West Virginia foundations to fund three additional staffers. They also made some changes to the website to help walk people through how to enroll by themselves. And then, of course, some of our admin like myself, where I haven't done a lot of enrollment work personally the last couple of years, I'll be rolling up my sleeves and, you know, I'm salary. So I'll be working as many hours as possible just to get in there and help as many people as we can.

9:22He does say there is a silver lining to the political fight over these plans. There's a lot more awareness of open enrollment than usual. And Smith says he's happy that people are paying attention. And Pierce Lena Simmons-Duffin, thanks so much. You're welcome.

9:43People in New Jersey and Virginia vote for new governors next week. The high price of electricity has become a deciding factor. Both states have seen double-digit power price increases in the last year. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now. Good morning. Good morning, Aisha. So how did electricity become such a hot-button issue on the campaign trail this year? Well, around the country, we have seen power prices climbing faster than the overall cost of living, and that is a problem that politicians ignore at their peril. You know, I lived in California a quarter century ago when anger about both the cost and availability of electricity drove Governor Gray Davis out of office and opened the door for a governor named Arnold Schwarzenegger.

10:27So the price hikes in Virginia and especially New Jersey have been particularly large. The cost of electricity for residential customers in New Jersey has jumped about 21 % in the last year. Dan Casino, who runs a political poll at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, says that just adds to perennial concerns about the high cost of living in that state. Sometimes in affordability, we're talking about property taxes. Sometimes we're talking about housing prices. Sometimes we're talking about groceries, but we're always talking about affordability. And electricity is just now the new way to talk about affordability.

10:59Now, electricity is still a relatively small part of the typical family's budget, about two and a half percent on average. But when so many other things are also getting more expensive, a big power bill can really be a pain. What's driving these price increases? Well, as usual, it's a mix of supply and demand. Both New Jersey and Virginia are part of a mid-Atlantic power grid that has retired some of its old fossil fuel power plants and has been slower than some other parts of the country to add new clean energy sources. At the same time, we have seen a burst of new demand for electricity in those states from all the new data centers that have sprung up as part of the artificial intelligence boom.

11:40So it's a complicated puzzle. Casino says it can be kind of a Rorschach test for voters who are just angry about their rising power bills. The problem is voters don't understand why this is happening. They just blame whoever it is that they don't like. So Democrats say, oh, it's Donald Trump, or they blame greedy electric companies. Republicans say, well, it's the Democrats. So everyone's just blaming whoever they don't like for it. In New Jersey, the incumbent governor is a Democrat. In Virginia, the incumbent is a Republican. Neither of them is on the ballot, but the candidates from both parties who hope to replace them are being asked how they plan to tackle this problem.

12:17These off-year governor's races are often seen as kind of a dress rehearsal for issues that later go national. Are electricity prices going to be a factor in other parts of the country in next year's elections? They could be. You know, other states are wrestling with some of these same challenges, although most parts of the country are not seeing double-digit price hikes like New Jersey and Virginia are. Nationally, demand for electricity is growing faster now than it did for most of the last two decades. At the same time, the Trump administration has taken steps to limit new solar and wind generation.

12:54And natural gas, which is the number one source of electric power generation in the country, is getting more expensive, partly because we are exporting more of our natural gas. Now, Casino says voters may or may not sift through all those details. But if they're unhappy about their electric bills and the overall cost of living, that could be a factor in the voting booth next year. People feel helpless and they want to blame somebody and they want someone in the government to do something about it. It almost doesn't matter if the helplessness comes from the electricity rates or from the rent going up or from inflation.

13:25When voters feel helpless, they're going to blame somebody. And if you are that somebody, it is a bad time to be an incumbent. We saw that around the world last year when politicians on the left and the right were punished because people were unhappy with the high cost of living. That's NPR's Scott Horsley. Thank you so much for joining us. Good to be with you.

13:47And that's up first for Saturday, November 1st, 2025. I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Aisha Roscoe. Dave Mistich produced today's podcast with help from Elena Tworek and Gabe O 'Connor. Our editor has been Hadil Alshalshi, along with Catherine Laidlaw, Melissa Gray, Raphael Nam, and Diane Weber. Michael Radcliffe directed today's program. Our technical director was David Greenberg, with engineering support from Nisha Hines and Damian Herring. Our senior supervising editor is Shannon Rhodes. E.B. Stone is our executive producer, and Jim Kane is our deputy managing editor. Tomorrow on The Sunday Story, we take a look at how decreasing birth rates in smaller families will affect the future of our communities.

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