Behind the shutdown was a fight over ACA health care premiums : NPR

The struggle for health policy led to the current disconnection of the federal government.

The question is the cost of premiums for healthcare plans that people buy in the law on affordable medical care, or Obamacare, sales.

Extended tax benefits for these awards expire at the end of the year. Since 2021, they kept ACA plans accessible to people who receive their insurance in this way.

Earlier this week, democrats in the Senate He refused to vote For the republican short-term funding bill, which did not include the expansion of the expanded premium tax benefits.

So why do they matter?

Advanced tax benefits are important for people who do not receive medical insurance in their work or public program, such as Medicare or Medicaid. This year, registration has hit Record 24 millionField

This accounts for only about 7% of the US population, but the people who rely on these plans are an influential group, which includes small business owners, farmers and ranch owners, says Cynthia CoxVice -President and Director of the ACA program in a non -party health organization KFF.

Cox and her team just made analysis What will happen to the award of people next year if the congress does not expand improved subsidies.

“On average, we expect premium payments by credited enrollment by 114%,” she says.

This means that many people will have to pay twice as much as the monthly bonus they pay now.

Or, according to Koks, they may have to switch to a higher plan, change jobs to the one that offers insurance, or they can lose their coating.

Budgetary Office of Congress estimates These 4 million people will become unhlassed if the improved tax benefits will expire.

It also evaluates that the expansion of politics will cost the government – 350 billion dollars for 10 years.

Tax benefits of premium class are crucial for increasing the number of enrollment in ACA plans.

When ACA was adopted in 2010, Congress created a sliding scale to give people a break on their insurance premiums based on income. But the prizes were still too high for many people, and people with income over 400% of the federal poverty level had to pay the full price, says Sabrina CorlettDirector of the project at the Center for Medical Insurance Reforms at the University of Georgetown.

“Thus, there were a bunch of people who simply tried their best to afford,” she says. And the registration was sluggish.

Thus, in 2021, Congress entered into much more federal financing, which made the prizes more affordable For people of all levels of income.

It was “an incredibly successful attempt to attract more people to coverage and reduce the unhlassed bet,” says Corlett.

Some republican lawmakers say that current tax benefits are too expensive. Other Republicans say that they are open to expand politics, but not as part of a shutdown.

“This premium support program even expires until next year. So why are you closing the government on October 1 from a program that does not even expire for several more months? ” Vice -President Vance said In Fox News on Wednesday.

Senator Patti Murray, D-Wash., Says that this is actually an urgent problem. As she explained to the press conference on Wednesday, the open registration of ACA plans begins on November 1.

“Later it’s too late,” she said. “New higher healthcare performance, they are installed right now. Notifications about families – they are now by mail. Open registration takes place in a few weeks, and families panen. ”

For coke, having this relatively small piece of medical insurance cake, the dominant, the political universe returns it to cancel and replace the struggle of 2017 and since then countless confrontations for the law on affordable medical care.

“Obamacare has always been the center of political fire storm, at least in health policy,” she said. “Here we are again.”