The concept of a plan (to sabotage Obamacare)
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
-
Adverse selection
13 min read
The article describes the 'death spiral' mechanism where healthier people leave insurance pools, leaving sicker enrollees—this is the classic adverse selection problem in insurance economics that explains why unregulated health insurance markets fail
-
Health savings account
14 min read
The Crapo-Cassidy proposal centers on redirecting subsidies to health savings accounts as an alternative to ACA marketplace subsidies—understanding how HSAs work, their tax advantages, and limitations is essential context for evaluating this policy
-
Affordable Care Act
13 min read
While readers know Obamacare exists, the Wikipedia article provides deep historical context on the law's structure, the premium subsidy mechanisms at risk, essential health benefits requirements, and the decade of Republican repeal attempts that contextualize current events
In three weeks, many of the government subsidies that help people afford health insurance will expire. If the subsidies are not extended before the end of the year, the impacts will be cataclysmic.
The 22 million Americans who currently receive these subsidies will see their premiums increase by an average of 114%. According to an analysis by the Urban Institute, families with incomes below 250% of the poverty line will pay premiums that are more than four times higher — rising from $169 to $919.
Meanwhile, an estimated 4.8 million people will lose coverage completely because they are priced out of the market. Uninsured people, of course, continue to get sick and require emergency medical care. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation projects “a $7.7 billion spike in uncompensated care in 2026” if the subsidies expire.
The impact will be most severe in large Republican-leaning states that have not expanded Medicaid, including Florida and Texas, because they rely on the Obamacare marketplace to cover many of their low-income residents. Those states will see their uncompensated care costs rise by as much as 25%.
A study by the Commonwealth Fund also estimates that failing to extend the subsidies will result in the loss of 339,100 jobs due to reduced health care spending.
In an interview with Politico published on Tuesday, President Trump was asked if he planned to let the subsidies expire. This was his response:
I want to give the money to the people to buy their own health care. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing. The Democrats don’t want to do that. They want the insurance companies to continue to make a fortune. The Democrats are owned by the insurance companies. They want the insurance companies to get these trillions of dollars. We spent ... we spend trillions of dollars [that] goes to the insurance companies. I want that money to go to the people and let the people go out and buy their own health care. It works like magic. But you know who doesn’t want it? The Democrats, because they’re corrupt people because they’re totally owned and bought by the insurance companies.
Trump makes a compelling case that the private insurance industry has excessive profits. But the
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.