What Senate Democrats do NOT Want you to Find Out about the ACA COVID Supplements due to Expire

[Seymour Flops]

Bottom line: it won't be nearly as bad as the Senate Dems and their media allies are trying to pretend it will be.

They are desperate that the COVID subsidies be extended because they are on-record saying it will be a disaster. If it is extended, they can say they prevented that disaster. If not, people will ask "what disaster?"

The shell game Dems are playing is to cite the coming annual increases in what an enrollee in an ACA Marketplace plan will pay as if they will be monthly increases. Thus they say with crocodile tears, "a consumer will see an increase of thousands of dollars and say 'how can I pay that?'"

Same way they paid increases in rent, increases in home insurance and property taxes, increases in prices at the grocery store and increases in interest rates for car financing. When all those things shot up during the Biden years, Senate Dems expressed no such concerns.

The below is from the KFF, which is noted for its non-partisan activities.

ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire | KFF

KFF estimates that, if Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits, ACA Marketplace enrollees on average would see their premium payments more than double in 2026, growing by 114%, from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.

www.kff.org

Individuals:

An individual making 55K per year will pay an additional $122 per month for the privilege of choosing to work at a job that offers no health insurance or choosing to be self employed.

However will he pay it? I dunno - work some of that tax-free overtime the BBB brought us?

Family of Four:

A family of four with two self-empoyed adults making $110K per year will pay an additional $266 per month. How will they ever find that money?

I dunno. I've never made $110,000 per year, I'm just a hardworking schoolteacher. I'm sure they can figure it out, if they figured out how to make six figures as an entrepreneur.

I do know it seems like a bad idea for me to pay it for them. My insurance premiums keep going up at a fast pace since the ACA was passed, and Dems never worry about that.

 

[Concerned American]

Bottom line: it won't be nearly as bad as the Senate Dems and their media allies are trying to pretend it will be.

They are desperate that the COVID subsidies be extended because they are on-record saying it will be a disaster. If it is extended, they can say they prevented that disaster. If not, people will ask "what disaster?"

The shell game Dems are playing is to cite the coming annual increases in what an enrollee in an ACA Marketplace plan will pay as if they will be monthly increases. Thus they say with crocodile tears, "a consumer will see an increase of thousands of dollars and say 'how can I pay that?'"

Same way they paid increases in rent, increases in home insurance and property taxes, increases in prices at the grocery store and increases in interest rates for car financing. When all those things shot up during the Biden years, Senate Dems expressed no such concerns.

The below is from the KFF, which is noted for its non-partisan activities.

View attachment 1176361

ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire | KFF

KFF estimates that, if Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits, ACA Marketplace enrollees on average would see their premium payments more than double in 2026, growing by 114%, from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.

www.kff.org

Individuals:

View attachment 1176362

An individual making 55K per year will pay an additional $122 per month for the privilege of choosing to work at a job that offers no health insurance or choosing to be self employed.

However will he pay it? I dunno - work some of that tax-free overtime the BBB brought us?

Family of Four:

View attachment 1176363

A family of four with two self-empoyed adults making $110K per year will pay an additional $266 per month. How will they ever find that money?

I dunno. I've never made $110,000 per year, I'm just a hardworking schoolteacher. I'm sure they can figure it out, if they figured out how to make six figures as an entrepreneur.

I do know it seems like a bad idea for me to pay it for them. My insurance premiums keep going up at a fast pace since the ACA was passed, and Dems never worry about that.

Is it clear to anybody yet that the democrats are in the pockets of the insurance industry?

 

[sparky]

the irony is that the ACA is evolving into something completely opposite what it was created for......~S~

 

[wamose]

Make the ACA go away.

 

[struth]

Bottom line: it won't be nearly as bad as the Senate Dems and their media allies are trying to pretend it will be.

They are desperate that the COVID subsidies be extended because they are on-record saying it will be a disaster. If it is extended, they can say they prevented that disaster. If not, people will ask "what disaster?"

The shell game Dems are playing is to cite the coming annual increases in what an enrollee in an ACA Marketplace plan will pay as if they will be monthly increases. Thus they say with crocodile tears, "a consumer will see an increase of thousands of dollars and say 'how can I pay that?'"

Same way they paid increases in rent, increases in home insurance and property taxes, increases in prices at the grocery store and increases in interest rates for car financing. When all those things shot up during the Biden years, Senate Dems expressed no such concerns.

The below is from the KFF, which is noted for its non-partisan activities.

View attachment 1176361

ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire | KFF

KFF estimates that, if Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits, ACA Marketplace enrollees on average would see their premium payments more than double in 2026, growing by 114%, from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.

www.kff.org

Individuals:

View attachment 1176362

An individual making 55K per year will pay an additional $122 per month for the privilege of choosing to work at a job that offers no health insurance or choosing to be self employed.

However will he pay it? I dunno - work some of that tax-free overtime the BBB brought us?

Family of Four:

View attachment 1176363

A family of four with two self-empoyed adults making $110K per year will pay an additional $266 per month. How will they ever find that money?

I dunno. I've never made $110,000 per year, I'm just a hardworking schoolteacher. I'm sure they can figure it out, if they figured out how to make six figures as an entrepreneur.

I do know it seems like a bad idea for me to pay it for them. My insurance premiums keep going up at a fast pace since the ACA was passed, and Dems never worry about that.

I thought Covid was over anyway…

 

[struth]

the irony is that the ACA is evolving into something completely opposite what it was created for......~S~

Is it though? Is it? Maybe it’s evolving to what it always was intended to, but Dems lied about

 

[1srelluc]

Costs are always driven up when the feds get involved.

College tuition is a good example.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that prices for college tuition and fees are 1,542.78% higher in 2025 versus 1977.

Did you know that the first non defense .gov college loans were for STEM only....What happened?

Non-defense federal-backed student loans was signed into law in 1958. This act allowed for the first federal student loans to be offered, primarily to students pursuing education in fields such as engineering, science, and education.

 

[citygator]

Bottom line: it won't be nearly as bad as the Senate Dems and their media allies are trying to pretend it will be.

They are desperate that the COVID subsidies be extended because they are on-record saying it will be a disaster. If it is extended, they can say they prevented that disaster. If not, people will ask "what disaster?"

The shell game Dems are playing is to cite the coming annual increases in what an enrollee in an ACA Marketplace plan will pay as if they will be monthly increases. Thus they say with crocodile tears, "a consumer will see an increase of thousands of dollars and say 'how can I pay that?'"

Same way they paid increases in rent, increases in home insurance and property taxes, increases in prices at the grocery store and increases in interest rates for car financing. When all those things shot up during the Biden years, Senate Dems expressed no such concerns.

The below is from the KFF, which is noted for its non-partisan activities.

View attachment 1176361

ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire | KFF

KFF estimates that, if Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits, ACA Marketplace enrollees on average would see their premium payments more than double in 2026, growing by 114%, from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.

www.kff.org

Individuals:

View attachment 1176362

An individual making 55K per year will pay an additional $122 per month for the privilege of choosing to work at a job that offers no health insurance or choosing to be self employed.

However will he pay it? I dunno - work some of that tax-free overtime the BBB brought us?

Family of Four:

View attachment 1176363

A family of four with two self-empoyed adults making $110K per year will pay an additional $266 per month. How will they ever find that money?

I dunno. I've never made $110,000 per year, I'm just a hardworking schoolteacher. I'm sure they can figure it out, if they figured out how to make six figures as an entrepreneur.

I do know it seems like a bad idea for me to pay it for them. My insurance premiums keep going up at a fast pace since the ACA was passed, and Dems never worry about that.

When gas prices go up $1 per gallon it costs the average American $300 per YEAR and you shit your drawers.

This will go up $300 per MONTH and that is no big deal?

How exactly do you function in life?

 

[Seymour Flops]

When gas prices go up $1 per gallon it costs the average American $300 per YEAR and you shit your drawers.

Not true, but whatevs.

This will go up $300 per MONTH and that is no big deal?

I guess you don't read things you reply to. The highest increase listed was $266. That's the kind of exageration the OP pointed out and here you are giving a perfect example of it.

That's $266 for a family earnig $110K per year. How big a deal that extra money is depends on them. They always have the option for one of them to work part-time at Starbucks, UPS, or other companies which offers employer plans to part-timers.

In fact, just those two companies should cover almost everyone in that situation of being grown people with no employer health insurance. If they are not that bright, lifting and heaving packages is perfect for them. If they are far too intellectual and sensitive for manual labor, they'd fit right in at Starbucks.

But that is high income self-employed. More typical are increases of less than $200 for middle class families. For lower income individuals it is much less than $100 per month.

How exactly do you function in life?

Well for one thing, I function without government provided health insurance. Since I got married, I have never seriously considered taking a job with no health insurance.

I respect those who "don't want to have a boss," or "won't be a slave to the timeclock." Admire them, in fact - as long as I'm not expected to pay for their choices.

 

[sparky]

Is it though? Is it? Maybe it’s evolving to what it always was intended to, but Dems lied about

to be honest it does state 'American' struth........~S~

 

[citygator]

Not true, but whatevs.

True. Just multiply the gallons sold per capita times $1. Even a conservative can do that math.

I guess you don't read things you reply to. The highest increase listed was $266. That's the kind of exageration the OP pointed out and here you are giving a perfect example of it.

That's $266 for a family earnig $110K per year. How big a deal that extra money is depends on them. They always have the option for one of them to work part-time at Starbucks, UPS, or other company which offers employer plans to part-timers.

More typical are increases of less than $200.

I just used $300 for the symmetry of the argument. The point is you freak out over gas prices which cost annually about what this thing will cost people monthly.

Well for one thing, I function without government provided health insurance.

Since I got married, I have never seriously considered taking a job with no health insurance. I respect those who "don't want to have a boss," or "won't be a slave to the timeclock." Admire them as long as I'm not expected to pay for their choices.

Why do I have to pay taxes for the police when I am capable of protecting my own house and family? Why do you get to decide that only the benefits you get are worthy and that others are not? My kids are out of high school now. Why do I have to pay property tax for schools?

 

[Winston]

An individual making 55K per year will pay an additional $122 per month for the privilege of choosing to work at a job that offers no health insurance or choosing to be self employed.

Your choice of phrasing there is illuminating. "Privilege" is it? Tell me, why would it be a privilege not to be a member of a "group", segmented by market risk, to diversify health care risk?

Look, I understand your health insurance premiums have went up, but I can tell you they would have went up more without the ACA. That single act was the most monumental piece of legislation passed by Congress since Medicare. Before the ACA.

Business providing health insurance to their employees changed, like every year. And there was a reason for that. Going in, first year premiums, they are based on actuarial data, how old the employees are, sex, and that is about it, maybe zip code. But after that first year, they are based on claims data, actual costs to the insurance company. Sure, it could be less, but before the ACA, almost always, it was a steep increase.

The thing is, in almost every company that provided health insurance, big or small, there was someone there specifically because of the health insurance benefits. Most of the time it is a spouse, sometimes, it is a disabled child. Hell, it might even be the employee himself. And they decimated the claims pool, sometimes to the tune of seven figures each and every year. The ACA gave those people the freedom to leave. But that also gave those companies, those risk pools, the freedom to lose that drain.

And now, to the claim those insurance companies have Democrats in their pocket. Not really. The ACA didn't make them happy. See, they could confine the diversification of the risk of old Joe's wife, who has Cerebral Palsy, to Joe and his coworkers. Now, Joe and his wife are out of the pool, a million a year in claims that the insurance company now has to diversify over an entire state, millions of people, not a couple dozen. Who wins and who loses here? And the numbers are huge.

No, while the insurance industry has their hands in everyone's pockets, Democrats and Republicans, they have a special place in the hearts of the Republicans. That is why the push to end the ACA. That ball and chain that was employer provided health insurance, the companies didn't like losing it and the insurance companies didn't like losing that segmentation.

But the current administration is infatuated with Medicare Advantage plans, open enrollment started Monday. They were part of Bush's Medicare changes and are replete with fraud. I mean they are rackets. Yet, if Kennedy had his way we would all be in one, funded by a ten percent payroll tax. Thanks, but no thanks.

I just enrolled for next year. ******* $185 a week. Cheapest option. I mean I could have went with a lower deductibles and a 30% copay. Uh, no, sorry. $13,500 deductible, 100% coverage after that. I am there, roll the HSA, cover the deductible, I am good for next year.

And those options, I mean there have been so many changes to the health insurance marketplace, even before the ACA. There are still many people unaware of the options they really have, and millions more who are enrolled in the wrong Medicare Advantage plan.

 

[Nuthin' Fancy]

Bottom line: it won't be nearly as bad as the Senate Dems and their media allies are trying to pretend it will be.

They are desperate that the COVID subsidies be extended because they are on-record saying it will be a disaster. If it is extended, they can say they prevented that disaster. If not, people will ask "what disaster?"

The shell game Dems are playing is to cite the coming annual increases in what an enrollee in an ACA Marketplace plan will pay as if they will be monthly increases. Thus they say with crocodile tears, "a consumer will see an increase of thousands of dollars and say 'how can I pay that?'"

Same way they paid increases in rent, increases in home insurance and property taxes, increases in prices at the grocery store and increases in interest rates for car financing. When all those things shot up during the Biden years, Senate Dems expressed no such concerns.

The below is from the KFF, which is noted for its non-partisan activities.

View attachment 1176361

ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire | KFF

KFF estimates that, if Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits, ACA Marketplace enrollees on average would see their premium payments more than double in 2026, growing by 114%, from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.

www.kff.org

Individuals:

View attachment 1176362

An individual making 55K per year will pay an additional $122 per month for the privilege of choosing to work at a job that offers no health insurance or choosing to be self employed.

However will he pay it? I dunno - work some of that tax-free overtime the BBB brought us?

Family of Four:

View attachment 1176363

A family of four with two self-empoyed adults making $110K per year will pay an additional $266 per month. How will they ever find that money?

I dunno. I've never made $110,000 per year, I'm just a hardworking schoolteacher. I'm sure they can figure it out, if they figured out how to make six figures as an entrepreneur.

I do know it seems like a bad idea for me to pay it for them. My insurance premiums keep going up at a fast pace since the ACA was passed, and Dems never worry about that.

But you nut jobs were crying about the price of eggs last year.

 

[Seymour Flops]

True. Just multiply the gallons sold per capita times $1. Even a conservative can do that math.

View attachment 1176436

I just used $300 for the symmetry of the argument. The point is you freak out over gas prices which cost annually about what this thing will cost people monthly.

I don't remember me or anyone else "freaking out" over gas prices. But yes. Many, including me, noted that gas prices went up under Biden and it was perfectly correlated with the things the Autopen did to decrease American production.

But we didn't cry over "how can we ever pay that?" or the other nonsense we are hearing about the COVID supplemental subdidies expiring.

Why do I have to pay taxes for the police when I am capable of protecting my own house and family?

Police do not protect your house and family, whether you are capable of doing it or not. Police have an average response time of roughly ten minutes, depending on what estimates you believe. That's after you realize that you are being invaded and make the call.

You have to pay taxes for Police, because police have powers that legitimately belong to government, i.e. making arrests after you kick the crap out of your home invaders.

At least Dems and "not Dems" are making that argument, having dropped their incredibly foolish "defund police" idea.

The fact that it makes sense to tax everyone for fire and police that everyone gets the benefit of, does not mean that it makes sense to deliberately tax one group in order to provide benefits to another group. It may make sense, or it may not, but it has nothing to do with fire, police, the military, courts, and other things that can only be done by government.

Why do you get to decide that only the benefits you get are worthy and that others are not?

I don't. But since it is my taxes that pay for it, I get to make arguments for or against this expentiture or that.

My kids are out of high school now. Why do I have to pay property tax for schools?

That's an example of a "government service" that was never a function of government until very recently - historically speaking. There are arguments for and against taxing for public schools. It's another thread topic which side I fall on, but reasonable people can disagree.

Instead of looking for a good analogy to taxing the employed to pay for healthcare for the self-employed, you should explain why that is a good idea as a stand-alone.

 

[Manonthestreet]

 

[Seymour Flops]

Your choice of phrasing there is illuminating. "Privilege" is it?

Actually, it is not a privilege to work at a job that has no health insurance, nor to be self-employed. It is a right. But getting health insurance anyway, paid for by moi, is not a right.

Tell me, why would it be a privilege not to be a member of a "group", segmented by market risk, to diversify health care risk?

Your meaning for that phrase escapes me.

Look, I understand your health insurance premiums have went up,

They have gone up, yes.

but I can tell you they would have went up more without the ACA.

They would have gone up more without the ACA? Yes, you can tell me that. But can you offer any evidence of that? How would not having to pay for things like transgender hormones and surgery, abortions, and other services I would never use, make my primiums go up more than being forced to pay for them did?

That single act was the most monumental piece of legislation passed by Congress since Medicare. Before the ACA.

Business providing health insurance to their employees changed, like every year. And there was a reason for that. Going in, first year premiums, they are based on actuarial data, how old the employees are, sex, and that is about it, maybe zip code. But after that first year, they are based on claims data, actual costs to the insurance company. Sure, it could be less, but before the ACA, almost always, it was a steep increase.

My premiums never before increased as much as they did under ACA, and that was employer-provided health insurance before an after.

The thing is, in almost every company that provided health insurance, big or small, there was someone there specifically because of the health insurance benefits. Most of the time it is a spouse, sometimes, it is a disabled child. Hell, it might even be the employee himself. And they decimated the claims pool, sometimes to the tune of seven figures each and every year. The ACA gave those people the freedom to leave. But that also gave those companies, those risk pools, the freedom to lose that drain.

That "freedom" comes at my expense. Why should I both work a job that has health insurance AND pay for the health insurance of someone who choses not to work such a job?

Are you saying working people are suckers and should drop out and let taxpayers take care of us? If we all do that, who will be the taxpayers?

And now, to the claim those insurance companies have Democrats in their pocket. Not really. The ACA didn't make them happy. See, they could confine the diversification of the risk of old Joe's wife, who has Cerebral Palsy, to Joe and his coworkers. Now, Joe and his wife are out of the pool, a million a year in claims that the insurance company now has to diversify over an entire state, millions of people, not a couple dozen. Who wins and who loses here? And the numbers are huge.

I think you're argueing with someone else.

No, while the insurance industry has their hands in everyone's pockets, Democrats and Republicans,

Sure do. Almost as much as Big Pharma.

they have a special place in the hearts of the Republicans. That is why the push to end the ACA. That ball and chain that was employer provided health insurance, the companies didn't like losing it and the insurance companies didn't like losing that segmentation.

Republicans haven't pushed to end the ACA. They are as bad as Democrats on that.

But the current administration is infatuated with Medicare Advantage plans, open enrollment started Monday. They were part of Bush's Medicare changes and are replete with fraud. I mean they are rackets. Yet, if Kennedy had his way we would all be in one, funded by a ten percent payroll tax. Thanks, but no thanks.

I just enrolled for next year. ******* $185 a week. Cheapest option. I mean I could have went with a lower deductibles and a 30% copay. Uh, no, sorry. $13,500 deductible, 100% coverage after that. I am there, roll the HSA, cover the deductible, I am good for next year.

And those options, I mean there have been so many changes to the health insurance marketplace, even before the ACA. There are still many people unaware of the options they really have, and millions more who are enrolled in the wrong Medicare Advantage plan.

You're losing me here. I'm not on Medicare yet, so I have no opinion.

Getting close though, so I should read up on it.

 

[citygator]

I don't remember me or anyone else "freaking out" over gas prices. But yes. Many, including me, noted that gas prices went up under Biden and it was perfectly correlated with the things the Autopen did to decrease American production.

You have no credibility. Zero. None. Zip.

Production was an all time high under Biden. It is undisputable. I wont read the rest of what you typed below until you acknowledge that fact.

But we didn't cry over "how can we ever pay that?" or the other nonsense we are hearing about the COVID supplemental subdidies expiring.

Police do not protect your house and family, whether you are capable of doing it or not. Police have an average response time of roughly ten minutes, depending on what estimates you believe. That's after you realize that you are being invaded and make the call.

You have to pay taxes for Police, because police have powers that legitimately belong to government, i.e. making arrests after you kick the crap out of your home invaders.

At least Dems and "not Dems" are making that argument, having dropped their incredibly foolish "defund police" idea.

The fact that it makes sense to tax everyone for fire and police that everyone gets the benefit of, does not mean that it makes sense to deliberately tax one group in order to provide benefits to another group. It may make sense, or it may not, but it has nothing to do with fire, police, the military, courts, and other things that can only be done by government.

I don't. But since it is my taxes that pay for it, I get to make arguments for or against this expentiture or that.

That's an example of a "government service" that was never a function of government until very recently - historically speaking. There are arguments for and against taxing for public schools. It's another thread topic which side I fall on, but reasonable people can disagree.

Instead of looking for a good analogy to taxing the employed to pay for healthcare for the self-employed, you should explain why that is a good idea as a stand-alone.

 

[Seymour Flops]

Here is the truth they don't want you to see:

“On average, gross premiums, or the overall cost of the premium, has gone up about 10 percent. And the net premium, or the amount the consumer pays after the tax credit has been applied, has increased about 75 percent,” Pat Kelly, executive director of Your Health Idaho, told The Hill.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5568649-affordable-care-act-enrollment-idaho-tax-credits/

Ten percent.

How many times did Dems and "not dems" say premiums would double, tripple or quadruple?

These are people who already have the overwhelming majority of their healthcare premiums paid for by people who work, including single parents struggling to make ends meet.

Now "their" part of the monthly premiums will go up by 75 percent? That isn't double, tripple or quadruple. So, if they are paying $10.00 per month, now they'll pay $17.50. If they now pay $50, it will go up to $87.50. If $100, it goes to $175.

Not the dire scenario Scummer and Jeffries are pushing, is it?

I pay $270 for my employer provided health care, so I'm not crying for those on the marketplace gravy train that I pay for also.