If all goes according to plan, the Republican-led House will wrap up its work for the year later this week and head home for the holidays. Those hoping for a miracle rescue for the tens of millions of American consumers facing a dramatic spike in their health care costs should probably lower their expectations. Politico reported:
Hopes for a quick patch saving millions of Americans from sharply higher health insurance premiums have given way to expectations of a long slog on Capitol Hill.
It is now all but certain that enhanced Obamacare subsidies first implemented by Democrats as a Covid relief measure will expire Dec. 31 after the Senate voted down competing partisan health plans Thursday and House GOP leaders indicated they had no plans to bring an extension up for a vote this year.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who helped rescue the Affordable Care Act from her party’s far-right crusade eight years ago, told Politico: “We don’t have a lot of time.” The GOP senator added, however, that she was “talking to people of goodwill and good faith about how we might be able to sketch” out a compromise.
Implicit in her comments was he fact that such a compromise, were it to eventually materialize, would be considered in 2026, not 2025.
I emphasize this because of the inflexible calendar. For example, in nearly every state, the deadline for consumers to enroll for coverage that would take effect on Jan. 1 is today — Monday, Dec. 15.
The idea that Congress will approve an extension of the existing ACA subsidies by midnight is a pleasant thought, but it cannot and will not happen.
The next date to think about is Dec. 31, which is the last day to cancel or change your ACA marketplace plan, followed by the end of the open enrollment period, which is Jan. 15.
There has been some talk about an eventual compromise solution that would assist families hurt by the looming deadlines, building in a reimbursement system of sorts, but it’s difficult to get one’s hopes up. For one thing, there’s no reason to assume that Republicans, who have made no effort to hide their contempt for Obamacare, will ever agree to extend the subsidies that are currently benefiting consumers.
On the contrary, congressional Republicans continue to move in regressive directions, while Donald Trump makes clear that he doesn’t much care whether consumers pay more or not.
For another, even if a bipartisan agreement were to somehow, someday, come together, it would likely be too late.
“The toothpaste is out of the tube,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week. “Once Jan. 1 comes and everyone is locked into their insurance proposals, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.”
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