On Thursday, September 25, the healthcare consumers advocacy group Families USA hosted a press conference to discuss how rising healthcare premiums and expiring healthcare tax credits will impact working families nationwide. Families USA reminded the audience that Congress has just days to extend the enhanced premium tax credits that millions of Americans depend on to afford health insurance coverage.

Anthony Wright, the Executive Director of Families USA, began the discussion by stating that the critical deadline for Congress to prevent harm that would inflict damage on millions of Americans and the economy is just five days away. “We know that Congress must pass a government funding package by then, but it is also a critical deadline for Congress to extend enhanced healthcare tax credits that help millions of Americans afford health insurance premiums. If the current premium tax credits are not extended, insurance companies will lock in their rates for next year, and they will be sky-high compared to what consumers paid this year.”

Diana Douglas, Director of Policy & Advocacy with Health Access California, cautioned that marketplace enrollees in California will experience, on average, a 97 percent increase in monthly premium costs if Congress doesn't take action. Douglas also highlighted that there would be a big impact on older adult Californians. Older enrollees in Covered California at the middle-income level could have their premiums increase to 30 percent of their annual income, she said. “We're looking at eight and a half percent to 30 percent of income suddenly going just to keep your health coverage,” Douglas explained—the current enhanced tax credits cap premiums at just eight and a half percent of income. “An estimated 400,000 Californians are likely to drop coverage due to lack of affordability,” Douglas predicted.

Pat Kelly, Executive Director with Your Health Idaho, stated that they expect about 25,000 Idahoans will cancel their coverage with the expiration of the enhanced tax credits. What are the unintended consequences? Kelly asked. “On a macro level, it will contribute to the destabilization across the healthcare ecosystem. And on a micro or neighborhood level, a family of four in the Boise area may choose health insurance instead of sports or extracurricular activities for their kids, and that rancher in eastern Idaho may not be able to invest in their business, gain efficiency, and have a more prosperous life. Not only that, but those same Idahoans may choose to forego routine care, exacerbating the cost when they finally see a provider.”

Furthermore, Kelly explained, “Extending the enhanced tax credits after September 30 will cause confusion, and many consumers will go uninsured. Reacquiring those customers is multiple times more expensive than retaining them. Those who can afford to go uninsured will increase the cost for everyone when they do need care. Consumers in rural areas and underserved communities would be most at risk for not returning to the marketplace to enroll in coverage.”

“Congress has a choice to make in the next several days and weeks. The more that you speak out, the more that this is something that can be resolved,” Wright reminded the audience. “There's a lot of discussion on Capitol Hill right now, but I don't think people fully realize the extent, the dramatic eye-popping nature of these increases, and what will happen when people start getting these notices over the next couple of weeks, leading into open enrollment on November 1.”

Healthcare subsidies now play a key role in the ongoing standoff between Democrats and Republicans over preventing a government shutdown before October 1, as our editor-in-chief Mark Hagland discussed earlier this week.