Up First from NPR
Epstein Files Release, Health Care Subsidies, Surviving The Holiday Season
20 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What documents were released about Jeffrey Epstein?
A vast trove of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein is released by the Justice Department.
Some of the files weren't new. Others were heavily redacted. And significantly, many documents were not released.
I'm Scott Simon.
And I'm Ayesha Roscoe. And this is Up First from NPR News.
Among the previously unseen files are photos of former President Bill Clinton.
But President Trump was rarely mentioned. We'll have analysis.
And millions of Americans face price hikes on health care premiums after Congress failed to strike a deal.
Plus, it can be a busy time of year with all of those holiday parties. Scott, you got a whole bunch of invites?
No, nobody invites us anywhere.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of Congress not reaching a health care deal?
Justice.gov slash Epstein went live around 4 p.m., and there was a queue you had to wait in before accessing the page. The Epstein library contained well over 100,000 pages of Court records, Freedom of Information Act files, memoranda from the Justice Department, and videos from outside Epstein's federal prison cell where he died by suicide in 2019.
And documents that the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed into law last month compelled the Justice Department to hand over.
Chapter 3: How will health care premium hikes affect Americans?
Feels like there's more to the story.
Well, yeah, it's not all the files. And in the grand scheme of what was released, there aren't that many things that are actually new, Scott. Notably, there aren't many mentions of the president in this latest release. He was a longtime friend of Epstein before they had a falling out and has appeared in previously released files.
Eighty percent of it comes from public court records for more than 50 cases against Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and others. There's about 4,000 files and about 8,500 pages that fall under this new transparency act. Most of those are photos of Epstein's estate and his travels with people like former President Bill Clinton, among others.
And there's this previously undisclosed FBI report from 1996, 30 years ago, that accused Epstein of child pornography crimes and allegedly threatened to burn the accuser's house down if she told anyone about it. Even then, there are hundreds of pages, just straight up redacted black boxes, all over things like grand jury information that do leave a lot of questions.
The law directed the Justice Department to release all of their files by yesterday. That apparently didn't happen. What did department officials say?
The DOJ says its review of the files found more than 1,200 victims and families and wrote in a separate court filing Friday that redactions include people who may not actually be victims as they err on the side of what they say might be viewed as an over-redaction, taking out more than may be required by law out of an abundance of caution.
This could also explain why there will be more than one release of documents. On Friday night, there were more files that were uploaded.
What's been the reaction from members of Congress?
Not all of them are happy. Remember, this was a near-unanimous law that was passed through Congress. Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California, who co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, told All Things Considered yesterday that the released files weren't what he expected or wanted. He says there's too many redactions and missing information altogether. Here's an example.
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Chapter 4: What tips can help manage holiday stress?
His Republican co-sponsor Thomas Massey of Kentucky said that impeachment could be on the table for officials involved, though Congress is out of session for a while over the holidays.
Stephen, what can we expect to happen now?
Like Khanna said, it's notable all of the things that aren't in the files that have been released and that some people think will never be. There's an FBI memo from over the summer that said about 300 gigabytes of evidence is in their possession.
And the way President Trump has handled this by fanning flames of conspiracy on the campaign trail, then attacking his supporters for wanting to know more once he took office, has basically made it where nobody is set to be satisfied with the information that is available. and could be put out there.
NPR's Stephen Fowler, thanks so much.
Thank you.
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Chapter 5: What causes holiday anxiety and how can it be managed?
Congress left Washington, D.C. for its holiday break without reaching a deal on health care.
That means those who use the Affordable Care Act marketplaces to buy their own insurance will see premiums rise a lot on January 1st. On average, monthly costs will double.
We're joined now by Larry Levitt. He's Executive Vice President for Health Policy at KFF, the nonpartisan research organization. Larry, thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me.
Chapter 6: How can one balance holiday indulgence with healthy habits?
Where do you think stand now for people who use these enhanced premium tax credits to buy insurance?
Well, as you said, Congress has left town without extending these enhanced premium tax credits. These have been around since 2021, and they provide additional assistance to people who buy insurance on their own to make premiums more affordable.
So without these enhanced tax credits being extended, people who use the Affordable Care Act marketplace, that's healthcare.gov or state-based marketplaces, are going to see their out-of-pocket premiums more than double on New Year's Day or over $1,000 more in their premium payments. Could Congress do something later? They could. I mean, there's no drop dead date here.
People are going to see these increases in their premium payments January 1st, but Congress could come back later in January, even later in the year, and extend the enhanced tax credits. They would be retroactive to January 1st. But with each passing day, more and more people are logging on, seeing these eye-popping premium increases, and walking away and going without insurance.
House Speaker Mike Johnson says the extra tax credits help just a small portion of the American people, 7% of the population. But that is 22 million people. How do you see it?
Well, it is 22 million people, and that's a lot of people. In many ways, these people are particularly vulnerable. They're people who don't have... health insurance at work. They're in jobs that don't provide health benefits. They're not eligible for Medicaid. They're not eligible for Medicare. So they're on their own. And health insurance is very expensive.
So without government help, and especially the additional government help that these enhanced tax credits have been providing, health insurance is just very expensive for these folks. I mean, these are Small business owners, Uber drivers, early retirees, farmers, people who in many cases just don't have a lot of discretionary income to put towards health insurance.
And what's the effect on the health system at large, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies for that matter?
Well, you know, I don't think anyone sheds any tears for insurance companies, and they'll frankly be just fine. And they have many other lines of business besides the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. But, you know, hospitals are going to struggle.
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