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Opinion The looming disaster on Obamacare subsidies keeps looking worse

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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Congressional Democrats are confronting a ticking time bomb that threatens both the health security of millions of Americans and Democrats’ own political security in the midterm elections. If they don’t act fast, it’s going to explode.
Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates
We’re talking about the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were added to the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which will expire at the end of the year unless Congress extends them. This could cause millions to lose health coverage and millions more to see a large spike in premiums. That could seriously harm Democrats in the battle for the Senate and House.
Now, another group of Democrats outside Washington is getting increasingly nervous about this prospect. Democratic governors, many of whom are up for reelection this year, don’t want to watch while Congress makes life more difficult for their constituents.







Underscoring the point, a group of Democratic governors has released a new letter imploring congressional leaders to extend the enhanced subsidies.
“At a time when governments at all levels are struggling to find ways to reduce costs for the American people,” the governors write, “we cannot allow the looming specter of rising health costs to cause more uncertainty and stress for American families.”
Right now, delicate negotiations are underway between Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the perennial thorn in the Democratic caucus’s side, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.). These negotiations are so fragile that no one seems to want to talk about them publicly, but what they come down to is whether Manchin will consent to allow the subsidies to be extended.

Among the signatories of the letter are embattled Democratic gubernatorial incumbents up for reelection in key battleground states, including Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Steve Sisolak of Nevada and Jared Polis of Colorado. Another signer is term-limited Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, whose state is the site of a critical race to replace him.






As a result of the enhanced subsidies, as many as 13 million people who purchase insurance through the Obamacare exchanges got a break on their premiums, and some with modest incomes ended up paying nothing. When the enhancements expire, many of those millions will see those premiums spike by hundreds of dollars on average, and 3 million could lose coverage entirely.
This is important as a political matter because even if the enhanced subsidies don’t expire until the end of the year, some time before then — probably in October, right before the election — insurers will begin notifying people of newly increased premiums. Imagine a wave of local news stories with shots of struggling parents gazing with consternation at those letters. The governors surely have.

This could pose a political problem to Democratic governors in a unique way. While they are not in direct control over how this debate gets resolved in Congress, as a general matter they often tout the accessibility of health care on their watch as an important feature of Democratic governance.


It’s not a coincidence that Democratic governors often seize on ACA enrollment periods to tout health-care access under their leadership. For them, it’s a regular point of contrast with how Republicans would handle governorships.
The Democratic governors surely had this in mind when they wrote in their letter that the expansion of the subsidies was another major moment of progress. “We have a historic opportunity to build upon these enrollment gains and affordability improvements next year and in years to come,” they wrote, urging Congress not to let this opportunity slip away.

And so, while Democratic governors might not be directly to blame if the uninsured rate and premiums spike due to congressional malfeasance, it could deliver a blow to their brands in their states.
As one Democratic strategist who works on governors’ races tells us, this will be an easy way for Republican challengers to argue that “Democrats can’t even get you health care.”






“People are going to see this in their pocketbooks at a time when inflation is the number one issue in every race,” this strategist continued. “This is going to be another hit.”
What’s more, this could impact low- and middle-income people, who tend to be a core constituency for Democratic governors. It will hit these voters with “new information,” that strategist said, producing a “non-surprise October surprise.”

Making this still worse, the stakes in this cycle’s gubernatorial races are extremely high. With the Supreme Court striking down the constitutional right to abortion, and with Republicans radicalizing against democracy, Democratic governors could be key bulwarks, both to safeguarding abortion rights in pro-choice states and to preventing state-level election subversion.
So once again, the expiration of expanded ACA subsidies is shaping up as a political and policy disaster for Democrats, and for the country. But no one can say they didn’t see it coming.

 
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Congressional Democrats are confronting a ticking time bomb that threatens both the health security of millions of Americans and Democrats’ own political security in the midterm elections. If they don’t act fast, it’s going to explode.
Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates
We’re talking about the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were added to the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which will expire at the end of the year unless Congress extends them. This could cause millions to lose health coverage and millions more to see a large spike in premiums. That could seriously harm Democrats in the battle for the Senate and House.
Now, another group of Democrats outside Washington is getting increasingly nervous about this prospect. Democratic governors, many of whom are up for reelection this year, don’t want to watch while Congress makes life more difficult for their constituents.







Underscoring the point, a group of Democratic governors has released a new letter imploring congressional leaders to extend the enhanced subsidies.
“At a time when governments at all levels are struggling to find ways to reduce costs for the American people,” the governors write, “we cannot allow the looming specter of rising health costs to cause more uncertainty and stress for American families.”
Right now, delicate negotiations are underway between Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the perennial thorn in the Democratic caucus’s side, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.). These negotiations are so fragile that no one seems to want to talk about them publicly, but what they come down to is whether Manchin will consent to allow the subsidies to be extended.

Among the signatories of the letter are embattled Democratic gubernatorial incumbents up for reelection in key battleground states, including Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Steve Sisolak of Nevada and Jared Polis of Colorado. Another signer is term-limited Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, whose state is the site of a critical race to replace him.






As a result of the enhanced subsidies, as many as 13 million people who purchase insurance through the Obamacare exchanges got a break on their premiums, and some with modest incomes ended up paying nothing. When the enhancements expire, many of those millions will see those premiums spike by hundreds of dollars on average, and 3 million could lose coverage entirely.
This is important as a political matter because even if the enhanced subsidies don’t expire until the end of the year, some time before then — probably in October, right before the election — insurers will begin notifying people of newly increased premiums. Imagine a wave of local news stories with shots of struggling parents gazing with consternation at those letters. The governors surely have.

This could pose a political problem to Democratic governors in a unique way. While they are not in direct control over how this debate gets resolved in Congress, as a general matter they often tout the accessibility of health care on their watch as an important feature of Democratic governance.


It’s not a coincidence that Democratic governors often seize on ACA enrollment periods to tout health-care access under their leadership. For them, it’s a regular point of contrast with how Republicans would handle governorships.
The Democratic governors surely had this in mind when they wrote in their letter that the expansion of the subsidies was another major moment of progress. “We have a historic opportunity to build upon these enrollment gains and affordability improvements next year and in years to come,” they wrote, urging Congress not to let this opportunity slip away.

And so, while Democratic governors might not be directly to blame if the uninsured rate and premiums spike due to congressional malfeasance, it could deliver a blow to their brands in their states.
As one Democratic strategist who works on governors’ races tells us, this will be an easy way for Republican challengers to argue that “Democrats can’t even get you health care.”






“People are going to see this in their pocketbooks at a time when inflation is the number one issue in every race,” this strategist continued. “This is going to be another hit.”
What’s more, this could impact low- and middle-income people, who tend to be a core constituency for Democratic governors. It will hit these voters with “new information,” that strategist said, producing a “non-surprise October surprise.”

Making this still worse, the stakes in this cycle’s gubernatorial races are extremely high. With the Supreme Court striking down the constitutional right to abortion, and with Republicans radicalizing against democracy, Democratic governors could be key bulwarks, both to safeguarding abortion rights in pro-choice states and to preventing state-level election subversion.
So once again, the expiration of expanded ACA subsidies is shaping up as a political and policy disaster for Democrats, and for the country. But no one can say they didn’t see it coming.

It's necessary to indoctrinate the base to stay in power. Seems the msm could be doing more to drown out the bullshit, make it a huge issue. With the Jan6 hearings it's a perfect time for the msm to high brainwashing. Too many Americans obeyed when instructed to ignore the msm. That's brainwashing.
 
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