One of the biggest health care fights that will occur in Congress next year has an official price tag: Permanently extending ObamaCare’s tax credits would increase the deficit by $335 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Greg Nash
In a letter sent Monday to House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), CBO said 3.4 million more people annually would have health insurance if the subsidies were made permanent.
The subsidies were originally intended for people who earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level to obtain coverage. The subsidies were expanded under the COVID-era American Rescue Plan, capping what people with higher incomes pay for a silver plan premium at 8.5 percent of their income.
The subsidies were set to expire in 2022, but they were extended to 2025 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, whoever controls Congress after the November elections will be able to decide whether to let the subsidies expire or seek to extend them permanently.
The tax credits have helped millions of people buy insurance and lowered premiums for others, but Republicans argue too many high earners are getting taxpayer-subsidized insurance. The CBO score gives Republicans new ammunition, and they can claim major savings by letting the tax credits expire.
“At a time when we are experiencing a record $35 trillion national debt with health care expenditures accounting for nearly 18 percent of GDP, it is unconscionable that Democrats would continue to push for massive taxpayer-funded handouts to the wealthy and large health insurance companies,” Arrington and Smith said in a joint statement.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
A bipartisan group of over 50 lawmakers in both the House and Senate is calling for increased oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) in Medicare Advantage (MA) coverage decisions. In the letter addressed to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the group of lawmakers said that they are “concerned about MA plans’ use of prior authorization, specifically their ongoing …
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) wants the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate why a low-cost generic cancer drug isn’t widely available to patients. In a letter sent to HHS Tuesday shared first with The Hill, Rosen questioned why Medicare patients pay $3,000 a month for abiraterone, a generic oral drug used as part of prostate cancer treatment, when a version that costs $171 is also on the market. …
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) proposed barring the use of defense funds for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. Rosendale filed an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, his office announced Tuesday. The amendment states that the bill would defund “assisted reproductive technology that includes any infertility treatments or technologies including IVF to ensure human life is protected.” “While I feel …
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Federal food safety regulators said Tuesday that they have warned a top U.S. bakery to stop using labels that say its products contain potentially dangerous allergens when they don’t. U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors found that Bimbo Bakeries USA — which includes brands such as Sara Lee, Oroweat, Thomas’, Entenmann’s …
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Author and activist Monica Lewinsky said Tuesday the judge overseeing former President Trump’s classified documents case should be impeached. “i awakened … Read more
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