By ALI SWENSON and LINLEY SANDERS, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive, according to a new AP-NORC poll, as they make decisions about next year’s health coverage and a government shutdown keeps future health costs in limbo for millions.

About 6 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about their health costs going up in the next year, the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds — a worry that extends across age groups and includes people with and without health insurance.

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Many Americans have other health care anxieties, too. The poll found that about 4 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about not being able to pay for health care or medications they need, not being able to access health care when they need it, or losing or not having health insurance.

Medicare beneficiaries are already shopping for next year’s coverage, and open enrollment periods for many other health plans are approaching quickly in November. Federal policies have left millions of people at risk of skyrocketing health insurance premiums or of losing their health insurance altogether. The findings show that many Americans are feeling vulnerable to spiking health care costs, with some expressing concerns about whether they’ll have coverage at all.

Latoya Wilson, an independent nurse consultant in Lafayette, Louisiana, currently uses a health insurance plan from the Affordable Care Act marketplace. But in the past two weeks, the 46-year-old has applied for more jobs than she had previously in her life, largely because she’s concerned about her premiums going up and wants the stability of employer-sponsored insurance.

“Even before these health care cuts came into play, I was already having a significant issue getting the care that I needed this year,” she said. “Anything worse than what I already have is pretty scary.”

Health care remains important to Americans when it’s center stage in Washington

About 8 in 10 U.S. adults say the issue of health care is “extremely” or “very” important to them personally. That includes about 9 in 10 Democrats and three-quarters of Republicans, and it puts health care next to the economy among Americans’ top issue priorities.

That significant attention on the issue raises the political stakes in what’s already been a crucial moment for federal health policy in the nation’s capital.

President Donald Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer cuts more than $1 trillion from federal health care and food assistance over a decade, largely by imposing work requirements on those receiving aid and by shifting certain federal costs onto the states. Republicans say the cuts will prevent people who don’t need aid from gaming the system, but the cuts will ultimately result in millions of people losing health insurance coverage, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

More urgently, a congressional deadlock over Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire this year has thrown the federal government into a shutdown that’s dragged into a fourth straight week with no end in sight. Democratic lawmakers want any funding bill they sign to extend the subsidies, which have made ACA premiums less expensive for millions of people. Republicans in Congress have expressed willingness to negotiate on the issue, but only after the government is reopened.

In interviews, some Americans said they doubted government leaders would take the necessary action to address their concerns on health care.

“It is the federal government’s job to provide a better way of life for its people,” said Caleb Richter, a 30-year-old certified nursing assistant in Belleville, Wisconsin, who identifies as an independent. ”Right now, it just feels like they’re not trying.”

But the poll reveals a deep ideological divide over what the government’s role should be, with Democrats far more likely than Republicans to say it’s the federal government’s job to make sure all Americans have health coverage. About 8 in 10 Democrats say this, compared with about one-third of Republicans.

Most US adults disapprove of Trump’s handling of health care, the poll finds

Health care continues to be a weakness for Trump. Only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults approve of the Republican president’s handling of health care, which hasn’t changed meaningfully since September. Almost all Democrats disapprove of his approach, but so do about 8 in 10 independents and about one-third of Republicans.

Wilson, a Democrat, said she thinks Trump should be “doing things that affect the good of the group” when it comes to health care, including catering more to working-class Americans.

But Michelle Truszkowski, a disabled veteran in Sterling Heights, Michigan, who is politically conservative, said she appreciates how Trump is focused on cutting fraud and abuse in the health care system.

“I like that people who shouldn’t be getting benefits from the government are getting kicked off of them,” the 48-year-old said. “Health care is not a right. It’s a privilege.”

Democrats trusted more than Republicans on health care, but many trust neither

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they trust the Democrats to do a better job handling health care, compared with about one-quarter who trust the Republicans more. About one-quarter trust neither party, and about 1 in 10 trust both equally.

Americans are more likely to trust their own party on health care, generally speaking, but 76% of Democrats trust their party more on health care, while only 57% of Republicans have more trust in theirs.

Independents are especially likely to trust neither party on health care — about half of independents say this. But the remaining independents are more likely to trust the Democrats.

Richter, in Wisconsin, said he wishes Congress would put more faith and funding into hospital staffers who know how to help patients. He said he’d be fine with paying higher taxes if it meant ensuring health care for people who need it.

But instead of working toward solutions, he said, federal lawmakers are acting “like a bunch of high school kids arguing.”

“My faith that something will get done is very, very low at this point,” Richter said. “It just feels like they don’t really care.”

The AP-NORC poll of 1,289 adults was conducted Oct. 9-13, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Swenson reported from New York.

Now 38 years old, the public assumption seems to be that Minnesota will continue to wean itself off Mike Conley during the 2025-26 season. Every public comment from Wolves coach Chris Finch suggests otherwise.

Conley has been mentioned as a solution for jumpstarting the team’s transition play, improving point-of-attack defense and varying its late-game offensive approach.

That would all suggest a bigger role for Conley this season, not a smaller one.

Minnesota likely only has a championship-level ceiling if Conley is a heavy ingredient in the team’s formula. The floor general acknowledged as much, noting it’s why he put so much of an emphasis on making sure he was in good shape mentally and physically coming into the season.

A wrist injury effectively eliminated Conley’s offseason in 2024, and he struggled mightily coming out of the gates, never resembling his traditional form until midway through the campaign. Conley knows he wasn’t where he needed to be as a player for the Timberwolves to be at their best last season.

As soon as the buzzer sounded on Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals in Oklahoma City to seal Minnesota’s elimination, Conley had one thought: “Alright, how do I get back to who I was the year before that?”

Conley noted that players his age don’t generally make drastic improvements but added, “You can get back to who you are in certain facets of the game.”

It’s about “understanding I can be more of myself than I was a year ago and be closer to what I was in the first run we had to the Western Conference Finals,” he said, “and contribute in a way that it’s not just part-time or in the corner, but actually making plays and giving guys a rest and being aggressive. Those things don’t change.”

“I know people think I’m the oldest in the world, but I’m not too much older than the guys still playing, still productive,” Conley added. “You look at some of the best in the world — Steph (Curry), (Kevin Durant), Al Horford — guys who are really productive, they’re all the same age as me. … So I’ve still got a lot of juice and am trying to just add that to what we already have here.”

But returning to and maintaining past form requires commitment. Conley’s mind tells him he can put in the same amount of work as when he was 25 years old, but his body barks back. Pushing through to stack workouts through pain is a must.

A normal day in the offseason consisted of a 7:30 a.m. yoga session, 45 minutes of weights, conditioning and shooting drills.

“That whole time, I’m moving, I’m sweating, I’m in it. I’m tired, physically drained,” he said, “but I’ll do that every day.”

Then came the most important part: Treatment.

“I have to spend more time recovering. After 11:30 (a.m.), I’ve got to sit down in the cold tub, stretch, see all my people and whatever. I’m finally done at 1 o’clock,” Conley said. “That’s something that I’m used to doing, and used to be able to do that and not feel as bad. But as I’m getting older, you start to feel more. So, you start spending more time on the first or last session of the day.”

Conley endured a few bumps and bruises in training camp — in his preseason opener against Indiana, his leg bent awkwardly after he was fallen on by a Pacers player — but he played well in his final exhibition showing in Chicago and noted he feels “really good.”

Asked about the possibility of being the player he was two years ago, Conley responded, “I haven’t thought twice about not being that. It’s not even a worry for me.”

The veteran has been more vocal about wanting the ball in his hands, noting that role produces the best version of himself. And he clarified that having the ball does not mean shooting. Frankly, it’s usually the opposite.

“I want to play … all-time quarterback. That’s what I want to do. I don’t want to move. I want to throw it to you and let you guys just have the world,” he said of his message to prolific scoring teammates Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle. “We got a lot of guys who are capable of making plays and dominating that basketball. So it’s just trying to find a balance. I don’t want (the ball) too much, but I also don’t want to not have it at all.”

Finch begged for Conley to be more aggressive at various points last season, but the point guard never grabbed the reins with aggression. And when he reflected on last season’s shortcomings, Conley wondered if a more aggressive floor general would have opened things up for the Wolves.

“It’s not just a personal thing, where I want to be the best player in the world. No, (it’s) what can help the team?” Conley said. “If I’m being more aggressive or owning the ball more, maybe that cuts down on turnovers, maybe it gets guys involved differently, maybe it gets more structure in places that we need it. I’m all for it, and I want to do that to win.”

Aiming High

Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley wants to play the 2025-26 season the way he played in 2023-24:

Stat                 2023-24    2024-25
Points              11.4           8.2
Field goal%     45.7           40
Assists             5.9             4.5
Minutes           28.9           24.7

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley speaks with referee Tyler Ford (39) during the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball Western Conference Finals playoff series against the Oklahoma City ThunderTuesday, May 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

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WASHINGTON — It is a truth generally acknowledged that Pete Hegseth is a muttonhead.

But I come not to bury the self-proclaimed “secretary of war” — rather, to praise him.

He is going to spur some superlative Pentagon coverage. Because nothing gets a bunch of reporters going like being forced out of the building where they work and being told they aren’t allowed to do their jobs.

The Pentagon has said it will deny credentials to reporters who seek information that has not been approved for release. Hegseth already cut off access to large swaths of the Pentagon to reporters without escorts.

Journalists have walked the Pentagon’s halls since its opening in World War II. They could stake out Jim Mattis, a defense secretary in President Donald Trump’s first term, when he picked up his clothes at an in-house dry cleaners and have an off-the-record chat as he walked back to his office, shirts slung over his shoulder. They might bump into the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at a Pentagon Starbucks and have a conversation that could turn into a story.

Pentagon officials liked it because they could clock what the reporters were working on, and the reporters liked it because they could get tips.

Mainstream news outlets have generally been careful, responsible, sometimes even overly deferential, about covering our military and handling sensitive information.

This crackdown on reporting supposedly would protect such information, even though the secretary himself personifies the motto “Loose lips sink ships.”

He was embarrassed by the revelations that the Atlantic’s editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, had been mistakenly added to a chat about classified war plans on Signal; and that Hegseth had shared details of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen in a Signal chat that included his wife and brother; and that Elon Musk had been invited to a briefing on top-secret plans in the event of war with China.

And Hegseth, a former weekend Fox News anchor, does not like how the media covered him as he ascended — utterly unqualified and looking like the third lead of a cheesy spring-break movie.

As The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer wrote at the time, a trail of documents indicated that Hegseth was dumped from prior leadership positions for financial mismanagement, sexist behavior and drinking on the job.

His tenure at the Pentagon has been marked by chaos as he pushed out several top Black and female leaders and derided “fat troops” and “fat generals.”

Knowing he’s in over his head, Hegseth has grown more paranoid and resentful — qualities we need in the supervisor of a nearly trillion-dollar budget, supervising troops and weapons all over the world.

When I covered stories in Saudi Arabia, officials attached minders to us. But imposing such undemocratic, restrictive protocols at the Pentagon makes it seem as if we’re run by tin-pot dictators.

Trump can seem more open with reporters. Attention is his oxygen, after all. But he continually maligns the media.

And there’s a creepy “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” feel to the press corps at the White House now as the perches of legacy media get filled with MAGA ringers — like the two White House “reporters” from Mike “MyPillow” Lindell’s “news” network.

One of the pillow reporters, Cara Castronuova, was among the handful of media representatives allowed in with Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on Friday. Castronuova’s penetrating “questions” consisted of gushing over Trump, who “stuck out his neck” for a Middle East peace deal, and chiding Zelenskyy for wanting the weapons that Trump had suggested he might give Ukraine. “As he said,” Castronuova tartly told the Ukrainian president, “we need our Tomahawks, too.”

Trump dodged Vietnam with his bone spurs excuse, and he has called the Iraq War “the single worst decision ever made.” So, somewhere, under all that bombast and desire to be praised rather than challenged, he knows we need a vibrant Pentagon media corps to ferret out the truth when our leaders are lying to us to prolong or start wars.

America’s greatest fiascoes happened because there wasn’t enough sunlight cast on them. As a chastened JFK told The New York Times’ managing editor, Turner Catledge, after the Bay of Pigs, “Maybe if you had printed more about the operation, you would have saved us from a colossal mistake.”

After reporters — including those from Fox News and Newsmax — refused to agree to Hegseth’s 21 pages of conditions, the Defense Department’s official X social account trolled them with a puerile meme.

Hegseth, immature and unconfident, cannot accept that a free press is integral to democracy. As Thomas Jefferson put it, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Hopefully, the defense secretary who will take over when Hegseth is undone by the press for his ineptitude and un-American diktats will understand that.

Maureen Dowd writes a column for the New York Times.

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Today is Tuesday, Oct. 21, the 294th day of 2025. There are 71 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 21, 1959, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum opened in New York.

Also on this date:

In 1797, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as “Old Ironsides,” was christened in Boston’s harbor.

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In 1805, a British fleet commanded by Vice Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, was killed.

In 1940, Ernest Hemingway’s novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” was first published.

In 1944, U.S. troops captured the German city of Aachen (AH’-kuhn) — the first German city to fall to American forces in World War II.

In 1966, 144 people, 116 of them children, were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and some 20 houses in Aberfan, Wales.

In 2013, a seventh grader at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nevada, shot and killed a teacher and wounded two classmates before taking his own life.

In 2014, Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide for shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The conviction was later upgraded to murder; Pistorius was released on parole in January 2024.

In 2021, Actor Alec Baldwin was pointing a gun on the set of the Western movie “Rust” in New Mexico when it went off, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Charges of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin were dropped in July 2024.

In 2024, jury selection began in the trial of a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Daniel Penny, for placing a man who was acting erratically on a New York City subway train in May 2023 in a deadly chokehold. In December 2024, Penny was cleared of all charges, including criminally negligent homicide.

Today’s Birthdays:

Rock singer Manfred Mann is 85.
TV’s Judge Judy Sheindlin is 83.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is 76.
Former first daughter Patti Davis is 73.
Film director Catherine Hardwicke is 70.
Actor Ken Watanabe (wah-tah-NAH’-bee) is 66.
Republican Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina is 54.
Actor Will Estes is 47.
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian (kahr-DASH’-ee-uhn) is 45.
Actor Glenn Powell is 37.
Country singer Kane Brown is 32.
Singer Doja Cat is 30.