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| Good afternoon, OnPolitics readers! |
| Good news for student loan borrowers out there. 💰 |
| President Joe Biden plans to extend the moratorium on federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, the Associated Press reported, citing a federal official. For tens of millions of Americans, student debt limbo will continue another three months. |
| The move will mark the fifth extension since the pause took effect in March 2020. This time, inflation is climbing and gas prices are soaring in part due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. All the while, the nation's $1.7 trillion student loan debt portfolio continues to grow, with no firm direction for the indebted. |
| For some debtors, the payment pause gave them a little more breathing room to reclaim their lives. Read more about how borrowers' lives changed without the payments and what a future without student debt might look like. |
| It's Amy with your top news out of Washington. |
Obama and Biden combine forces to boost ACA |
| President Joe Biden on Tuesday proposed a way to increase the number of dependents who can get subsidized insurance under the Affordable Care Act, a fix for what's been called the "family glitch." |
| The proposal: If a workplace plan for a whole family costs more than 10% of a family's income, then the worker's spouse and children could get help purchasing a private plan through the Obamacare marketplace. |
| "The Affordable Care Act is stronger than it's ever been," Biden said at a White House event attended by former President Barack Obama. "And today, we're strengthening it even further." |
| The change, which would go into effect as early as next year, could allow an estimated 200,000 people without insurance to gain coverage, according to the White House. About 1 million people might be able to switch to a more affordable plan. |
| The impact of COVID on Medicaid: Federal aid to states to boost Medicaid rolls during the coronavirus pandemic is set to end April 16 — unless another extension is approved. |
| Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for OnPolitics newsletter here. |
Real quick: Stories you'll want to read |
| • | A bond over borscht: Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, thousands of Polish families have opened their homes to Ukrainians seeking refuge. More than 4 million Ukrainians have left their homeland with about half heading to Poland. Read how families from different worlds have learned how to come together in a crisis. | | • | Ex-Proud boy pleads not guilty: The former national chairman of the extremist Proud Boys group, Enrique Tarrio, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he conspired to block Congress' certification of the 2020 election as part of the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol. | | • | Rep. Fred Upton to retire: A fourth House Republican who voted to impeach Donald Trump is leaving Congress. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. told colleagues that "even the best of stories has a last chapter" and "this is it for me." | | • | 'A clear stand against Putin's war of choice': The United States and the European Union plan to impose stiff new sanctions against Russia in retaliation for Russia's "war crimes" in Ukraine after revelations of atrocities in towns near Kyiv. | |
Why the Army has a suicide crisis at Alaskan base |
| Beset by a variety of problems – including crushing homesickness, failing relationships, financial problems, substance abuse and suffocating isolation – soldiers seek professional counseling. |
| Get in line, they're told. |
| Suicide in the military is on the rise, climbing from 20.3 per 100,000 troops in 2015 to 28.7 per 100,000 in 2020. The problem is most acute in the Army. Within the Army, nowhere is the crisis more evident than Alaska. And in Alaska, Fort Wainwright is the epicenter of the epidemic. |
| In 2021, 17 soldiers in Alaska died by suicide, more deaths than the two previous years combined and far above its average of six per year from 2016 to 2020. |
| Alaska 'can kill you.' It's below freezing about half the year in Fairbanks, and on its darkest winter day, it sees a few hours of twilight. Winter forces some soldiers to retreat to their barracks rooms, which can lead to isolation and ultimately, depression. |
| In Alaska last year, suicide was almost uniquely an Army problem among the armed services. There are also 10,000 Air Force airmen based in Alaska. Many in the same parts of the state. Yet only one airmen died by suicide in 2021, according to the Air Force. |
| What is the Pentagon doing about the issue? Preventing suicide among soldiers has seized the attention of the Pentagon's senior leadership. Fort Wainwright is one of nine installations that will be examined by an independent commission charged with reducing suicide in the military. |
| The White House will be hosting the wedding of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's granddaughter, Naomi Biden. Check out these photos from White House weddings over the years. -- Amy |
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