ACA goes away, health insurance company has nothing to say?

[kenobi_65]

Which stinks, but I don’t think that that’s directly being caused by the loss of the ACA subsidies.

[kenobi_65]

@md-2000

Isn’t it the case that congress gets to allocate money and low it to be spent? I thought the president has not power to simply decde “I’ve decided to spend billions extra” without congress passing the appropriate legislation.

Yes; Congress is the branch with the “power of the purse,” as per the Constitution.

[kenobi_65]

@Mortimus

Thanks for that. Ignorance fought. I did receive a letter with rates for 2026. There were some increases but nothing too onerous. I thought the subsidies going away was going to change that.

You are welcome!

As noted, the subsidies have nothing to do with Medicare. Someone who has been receiving the subsidies would know it, as you don’t just automatically receive them – you have to submit an application for the subsidy (tax credit) with the Federal government, as part of applying for an ACA policy through the Marketplace.

Anyone who was getting a subsidy this year, and won’t be getting one next year, will have already discovered this, when they went to apply for their 2026 coverage.

[suranyi]

I’m on Obamacare right now. Regarding the original question: My insurance company (Anthem Blue Cross) hasn’t been saying much, but Covered California, which runs the marketplace here, has been sending out lots of messages for months warning about what’s coming.

[kenobi_65]

@suranyi

My insurance company hasn’t been saying much

As far as the insurance companies taking a general, public stance on it – I haven’t seen much of that, to be honest. I think part of it may be that they realize that (a) it’s not their program to continue or not – it’s up to Congress, and (b) with as much bad press as health insurers get anyway, it may not be worth bringing up, from a PR standpoint.

[LSLGuy]

Never mind. Not an FQ thought.

[DrDeth]

@kenobi_65

What is going away, barring any eleventh-hour movement by Congress (which seems unlikely) is that the expanded subsidies for people on ACA plans, which began in 2021, and continued through this year, are ending at the end of this month. The net of that is that a lot of people who are on ACA plans this year, with low premiums (thanks to the expanded subsidies) will be having to pay a lot more next year for the same coverage.

Or in most cases- go without. So for many, ACA is going away. But yeah, for now the MAGAs have only crippled it.

@kenobi_65

Not entirely.

There have been subsidies available to help pay for ACA coverage since the beginning (2014), but the only people who qualified for them were ones with fairly low incomes (though too high to qualify for Medicaid).

Right. ACA is good for workers who dont get health insurance at work.

@dolphinboy

I heard something on NPR today that said the White House is considering some action.

For like six years now he has been promising a Big Beautiful Health plan. It’s never coming.

@snowthx

First, the impacted people need to feel the sting of the subsidy lapse. Then, Republicans in Congress will start to feel the heat.

The heat will come in 2026, which then will lead to- we all hope- a Dem congress, or at least The House. The Hard core ‘we hate Obamacare” MAGAs wont let them pass any such relief before the elections.

@kenobi_65

People who are younger, and/or in generally good health, are going to just drop coverage entirely.

or cant afford it.

[kenobi_65]

@DrDeth

or cant afford it.

Well, exactly. The distinction I trying to make, and maybe not with 100% success, was:

• Young, healthy people, who have been getting the subsidy, and would now start having to pay a lot for insurance that they don’t really use much, will be likely to just drop it without much of a second thought.
• People who need insurance, due to health issues, but are now faced with paying a lot more for it, are going to be stuck either (a) cutting other spending in order to afford even the lowest-tier coverage, or (b) dropping coverage entirely, even though they don’t want to do so.

[DrDeth]

@kenobi_65

or (b) dropping coverage entirely, even though they don’t want to do so.

And knowing human nature, if it is between their beer/Starbucks/Nicotine habits, you know which they will pick. Mind you it also could be between rent & food or insurance.

[Odesio]

The insurance companies haven’t been quiet about what’s happening. Various Blue plans have made cuts to their workforce by either offering employee buyouts, laying people off, or both. They don’t expect things to be great for insurance providers in the coming years. A lot of Americans are at risk of losing their insurance and access to healthcare in general.

[kenobi_65]

@Odesio

The insurance companies haven’t been quiet about what’s happening. Various Blue plans have made cuts to their workforce by either offering employee buyouts, laying people off, or both.

That’s a different form of “not being quiet,” IMO. I think that the OP was more referring to insurers seeming to not be actively/publicly speaking up in favor of extending the ACA subsidies.

[Spice_Weasel]

@kenobi_65

Premiums are actually rising, in the absolute, by a lot. As I noted upthread, this is largely because the insurers have had to assume that a good chunk of their current customers for these products will drop them for next year (because of the lost subsidies), and the people who drop coverage are likely to be the young and healthy (who are less expensive to insure).

On average, they’re going up by about 20% (source), though this varies by state, as insurance companies determine their rates for ACA plans at the state, and even county, level.

Thank you for answering my question before I asked it. Our premiums for non-ACA health insurance just went up 30% and I was wondering why.

[kenobi_65]

@Spice_Weasel

Our premiums for non-ACA health insurance just went up 30% and I was wondering why.

That’s actually a pretty huge increase for a non-ACA plan. If I may ask: are you getting group coverage from your employer? And, if so, is that 30% increase on the amount that your employer has you pay, or is that the increase on the full amount of the premium (i.e., what the insurer is charging your employer)?

[Spice_Weasel]

No, my husband runs a private practice and we have to pay the entire amount. The issue is we are people who actually use our insurance. My son has special needs, and, well, I kinda do too. Between the two of us we’re always hitting our deductible and my son has met the out of pocket max two years in a row. So, like, we can’t do the Honda plan. We need the Cadillac plan.

[kenobi_65]

@Spice_Weasel

No, my husband runs a private practice and we have to pay the entire amount.

Ahh, gotcha. I’m not sure if it’s a “small group” plan, or something through a particular provider network, but I do know that the smaller the “group” covered, the more that rates are going up. I also work on small group insurance (employers with 50 or fewer employees, including sole proprietors), and premiums for those have been going up steeply, too.

[Chronos]

[Moderating]
This is not a Factual Question. Moving to IMHO.

[ZipperJJ]

For a data point - I have Oscar insurance through the ACA with no subsidies. I have my own business and have had ACA coverage since it came available but I’ve never qualified for a subsidy. My coverage went from $740 to $903, just about 20%.