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Tens of thousands of Coloradans to see huge health insurance increases in 2023 if Congress doesn’t act
More than 150,000 Coloradans are facing a big spike in health insurance premiums next year, a recent report warns, unless Congress acts soon to extend enhanced tax credits.
Nationally, a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that more than 3 million people who buy their own health insurance could lose coverage in 2023.
“At a minimum, we should extend the enhanced tax credits from the American Rescue Plan to 2025, so we can continue to build on the progress of the Affordable Care Act,” U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado told Colorado Newsline in an email. “That change alone would provide coverage to another 87,000 Coloradans, and it would save 88,000 Coloradans hundreds of dollars per year. I’d like to go even further and make these tax credits permanent.”
Bennet and Colorado U.S. Sen John Hickenlooper late last year pushed hard to extend enhanced American Rescue Plan tax benefits, which dramatically reduced premiums for people who are not insured by an employer and purchase plans on the state exchange.
Those efforts fizzled along with the rest of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better budget reconciliation plan. Now holdout moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is indicating he may be open to some sort of deal at least on health care — but the clock is ticking heading into the annual August recess.
Citing inflation, Manchin has told fellow Democrats that if they want a deal in July, it will be health care only as he mulls over climate change provisions and rolling back Trump-era tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans to help balance the budget. President Joe Biden on Friday said Democrats should take that deal and hope for more on the climate later.
Also on the table is a provision that would allow the U.S. government to negotiate prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, saving billions of dollars, and a move to shore up the financial stability of Medicare by closing a tax loophole.
“In Colorado, the cost of prescription drugs is rising the fastest, compared to all other health costs. That’s unacceptable,” Bennet said. “We should allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, implement measures to stop pharmaceutical companies from price gouging, and cap drug costs for seniors.”
In February, Bennet and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia also introduced a bill that would cap the out of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 per month – similar to a Colorado cap on the drug.
With recent skyrocketing inflation and cost-of-living increases, lowering prescription drug prices is popular in both major parties right now, but bolstering the ACA remains a hurdle for Republicans who have long tried to scuttle Obamacare.
Bennet and Hickenlooper, both Democrats, last month urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to prioritize extending the Advanced Premium Tax Credit.
And Colorado Gov. Jared Polis recently joined a group of Democratic governors sending a letter to congressional leaders warning of dire consequences if health care subsidies end.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, job upheaval and the enhanced tax credits, Colorado hit record enrollment on its state exchange this year, with 198,000 individuals enrolling for coverage, and premiums dropped an average of 30%. HHS estimates 155,000 Coloradans will see reduced or eliminated financial support if ARPA tax credits expire at the end of 2022.
“The expanded tax credits provided through the ARP have significantly improved affordability and increased the number of Coloradans enrolling in private health insurance,” said Adam Fox, deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, in an email. “This has been vital, with continuous eligibility in Medicaid, to keeping Coloradans covered in the midst of the pandemic.”
Fox adds that the expanded credits have been vital to Coloradans in high-cost non-metro-area communities where tens of thousands of people will see huge jumps in premiums in 2023.
“With inflation and other costs of living increasing, Coloradans don’t need to see their health insurance spike as well,” Fox said. “We know Colorado’s senators have advocated extending these vital tax credits, and it’s time for the rest of the Senate to step up, or millions of Americans will see spikes in what they pay for insurance premiums next year.”
The CCHI this week also slammed Colorado health insurance companies for proposing average increases of 11% in the individual market and 9% in the small employer market in 2023, as released by the Division of Insurance.
“Even as reinsurance keeps premiums for Coloradans down, and as we see more companies offer plans in more counties, health insurance continues to be unaffordable for too many Coloradans,” CCHI Executive Director Mannat Singh said in a release. “Premium rates must be reasonable and justified; the industry shouldn’t use the ongoing pandemic or inflation to hike company profits.”
With women’s reproductive health and surging health care costs overall now at the forefront of the national debate, expect Bennet to continue to hammer home the urgent need for solutions heading into November.
The campaign for Republican Joe O’Dea, a businessman running against Bennet in November, did not respond to requests for comment on the recent negotiations over health insurance subsidies or lowering prescription drug prices.
During the recent GOP primary campaign, O’Dea said he would not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans tried and failed to do in 2017, because of the Trump administration rollback of tax penalties for the uninsured.
Editor’s note: A version of this story first appeared on Colorado Newsline, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.
David O. Williams
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Marty McDonald
July 15, 2022 at 8:14 pm
I have a feeling the subsidies are only for the poor. It’s like the brilliant Milton Friedman said “We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork”.
I hope Manchin sticks to his guns and doesn’t turn yellow.