Why are the Democrats responsible? Because they tried to create another entitlement program. The increased subsidies lured people into the system with the promise of cheap insurance. It’s only “cheap” because it’s mostly paid for by fellow taxpayers. This was the foot in the door the Democrats saw to finally get to Universal Healthcare in the United States.
Shortly after Biden took office the Democrats had control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. They rammed down the country’s throat the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). This increased federal spending by $1.7 trillion and included huge subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. The subsidies were supposed to expire in 2022.
American Rescue Plan – Wikipedia
- Changes to the Affordable Care Act
- Removing the welfare cliff by removing the income limit on premium subsidies. Instead, anyone can be eligible for premium subsidies if the cost of their premiums is more than 8.5% of their income. These subsidies will not affect rich households.[112][113]
- Increasing subsidies that are already available to low-income households. An estimated 2.5 million uninsured people will get covered due to these changes. Additionally, about 3.4 million of the lowest income enrollees will see their premiums fall by 100%.[113]
- Create a special rule whereby anyone who qualifies for unemployment automatically qualifies for the maximum amount of subsidies.[112]
- Protect any ACA subsidy recipient from clawbacks due to income fluctuations in 2020.[112]
The Democrats, knowing they were going to lose in the mid-term elections in November of 2022 passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August of that year. This was another law that increase federal spending by another $1 trillion and extended the ACA subsidies to the end of 2025.
The Inflation Reduction Act extended the American Rescue Plan’s modifications to the Affordable Care Act‘s health insurance subsidies, namely the Advanced Payment for Premium Tax Credit, through 2025. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services attributed increases in ACA health insurance enrollment after the 2022 enrollment period in part to the IRA. The 2023 Open Enrollment period, the first one under the IRA, saw an increase in new consumers of 3,699,749, compared to the previous year’s increase of 3,066,360. The CMS saw an increase in approvals for financial aid from the Act (90% of consumers compared to 2021’s 85%, meaning the Act and ARP helped roughly 14.72 million people in calendar year 2022) and estimated national averages of $824 per year and 46% in IRA savings on premiums, in addition to finding that 1.4 million people making up to four times the poverty line were still able to access subsidies thanks to the ARP and IRA.[302] The 2024 Open Enrollment period saw 5,215,764 new consumers sign up for the exchanges, an increase of 31% from the previous year’s 3,699,749. 92% of consumers (roughly 19.73 million people) received aid from the Act. The average annual premium savings figure now stood at $705 and 48%; the ARP and IRA had now helped 1.5 million people avoid subsidy ineligibility.[303] The 2025 Open Enrollment period saw an increase in new consumers of 3,938,907, a slowdown from last year’s figure.[304] The IRA was credited with allowing 80 percent of users to find a plan for $10 a month or less.
Inflation Reduction Act – Wikipedia
Not a single Republican voted for the ARPA or the IRA. They were not happy with the ACA in the first place because the act did nothing to lower healthcare costs or insurance premiums. They knew what the Democrats were doing and tried to stop it. So now look at where we are. The Democrats got the public hooked on “cheap” insurance (paid for by all of us) and like a good drug dealer is hanging the prospect of losing it as a scare tactic. They want you dependent on them.
The federal government has all but ruined private health insurance. Let’s not let them kill it.
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