The enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, passed during the COVID-19 pandemic, are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. But insurers are setting their rates now, and open enrollment for ACA plans begins Nov. 1.
“On this issue, we’re totally united. The Republicans have to come to meet with us in a true bipartisan negotiation to satisfy the American people’s needs on health care or they won’t get our votes, plain and simple,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) told reporters Thursday.
Some in the GOP are showing openness to an extension by year’s end.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said he is open to discussing legislation to extend the subsidies, but he said Democrats need to present them with a plan and not as part of a government funding deal.
Eleven GOP lawmakers have endorsed legislation extending the benefits for one year, punting the issue beyond the midterm elections. Most of them are vulnerable front-liners facing tough reelection contests.
According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, about 4 million people will drop out of ACA plans in the first year after the extra subsidies are discontinued. Those people are likely to be relatively young and healthy, leaving a pool of sicker, more expensive patients — leading to even higher premiums in subsequent years.
According to health research group KFF, premiums are expected to increase by more than 75 percent on average, with people in some states seeing their payments more than double.
