Affordable Care Act plan hikes loom as Congress unable to agree
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Health care premiums for an estimated 1.7 million Californians are set to skyrocket on January 1, as Congress has been unable to agree on a fix. On Wednesday, four Republicans joined Democrats to force a vote on a proposal to extend COVID-era subsidies, which won't likely happen until January. Those subsidies make plans cheaper on Affordable Care Act marketplace known as Covered California.
Representative Dave Min, D-Calif., said the price hikes will force many families to drop down to a cheaper plan with fewer benefits, or lose insurance altogether.
"Many Californians received those notices from Covered California just a few weeks back, announcing that they would see anywhere from 50 percent to 200 percent increases in their premiums based on the expiration the ACA tax credits," Min explained. "What we’re talking about is thousands of dollars a month for working families in my district."
The subsidies were eliminated last summer by the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in order to pay for other administration priorities, including a hike in the budget for ICE and tax credits for corporations.
Democrats warn that health care costs will rise for everyone, not just people who buy insurance on the ACA exchange, because when large numbers of people lose insurance, they will seek care in emergency rooms, which will be passed on in the form of higher hospital bills and insurance premiums.
Wednesday night, House Republicans approved a health care plan that would let the subsidies expire, but try to control costs by putting $1,000 into health savings accounts for low-income families on the ACA.
Vaishu Jawahar, director of policy programs for the nonprofit Protect Our Care, is critical of the proposal.
"Their plans are really non-starters," Jawahar said. "We're still going to see millions of people lose their health insurance under their plans, and we're going to see premiums go through the roof. So, their plans really do nothing to address the most urgent problems we have facing us."
The House Republican bill would also allow small businesses to link up to have more market power, so they could then afford to offer coverage to their employees. And it would put transparency requirements on pharmacy benefit managers. The bill faces an uncertain future, however, because a similar plan recently failed in the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate.
