Hey, remember when we weren’t allowed to call it Obamacare?
Higher Obamacare Prices Become Public in a Dozen States
Health insurance prices for next year under the Affordable Care Act are now available in about a dozen states, giving Americans their first look at the sharp increases many will pay for coverage if Congress does not extend subsidies that have made some plans more affordable.
The annual enrollment period for Obamacare is expected to begin Nov. 1, but the costs for some Americans are becoming publicly available piecemeal through some state marketplaces. The federal website healthcare.gov, which includes 28 other state marketplaces, is slated to post prices before the end of October.
People shopping for coverage can now preview the costs they face from potentially expiring subsidies and sharply rising premiums in many markets, including California, New York, Nevada, Maryland and Idaho. Some consumers also found out that they would have fewer choices because their insurers dropped out of some markets for 2026.
Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year because they would no longer qualify for more generous subsidies, said Gideon Lukens, a health policy researcher for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which supports extending the subsidies.
Older people will also see sharp increases, according to his calculations. In Kentucky, a 60-year-old couple making $85,000 per year could face an increase of $23,700 in annual premiums. In Nevada, a similar couple could pay an additional $18,100 in annual premiums, while in Minnesota, the cost might be $15,500 more and, in Maryland, an additional $13,700.
Wait, nothing blaming Republicans?
President Trump has also signaled some interest in making a deal. But since Democrats made the demand a centerpiece of shutdown politics, Republican congressional leaders have said they will not consider extending the subsidies as part of a short-term bill to fund the government.
Surveys by public pollsters and Republican firms have found that the subsidies are popular with voters. A recent poll from KFF found that 59 percent of Republicans favored an extension. But it would be expensive — costing around $350 billion over a decade, according to a recent estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. And conservative critics have assailed the generous subsidies as a handout to the insurance industry and an invitation for fraud.
Weird, I thought the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act would make it all less expensive?
Democrats were told this would happen from the get-go. And it got worse and worse. Maybe they should be thinking about ways to work with Republicans to actually make it affordable.
Read: NY Times Notices Obamacare Prices Already Skyrocketing »
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