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Health Care
Health Care
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The Big Story
CMS touts $50 ObamaCare premiums
The Trump administration on Tuesday touted the affordability of 2026 ObamaCare plans, the first public rebuttal to counter claims of skyrocketing premiums without an extension of enhanced tax credits.
© Photo credit
People who get their health insurance through Healthcare.gov, the federal health insurance marketplace, will pay on average $50 per month for the lowest cost “bronze” plans after the application of existing tax credits, according to a fact sheet from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
CMS said nearly 60 percent of eligible re-enrollees will have access to a plan in their chosen health plan category at or below $50.
That would be $13 more on average than in 2025, but CMS said it’s still $20 less than the average in 2020, before the enhanced subsidies were enacted.
“When compared to years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Marketplace enrollees this year will have access to, on average, plans with lower premiums after tax credits and more plan choices overall,” CMS said.
CMS noted that the vast majority of enrollees will still receive financial assistance even if the enhanced, COVID-19 era subsidies expire.
“On average, tax credits are projected to cover 91 percent of the lowest cost plan premium in 2026 for eligible enrollees. This compares to 85 percent in the 2020 coverage year, which was the last coverage year not impacted by temporary COVID-19 pandemic policies,” the agency wrote.
But the fact sheet focused on bronze plans rather than the average “silver” plan that the majority of people purchase. Fewer than a third of enrollees typically buy a bronze plan.
According to health research organization KFF, premium payments are estimated to increase 114 percent for people currently getting a tax credit to keep their same plan.
The enhanced credits, passed and extended twice during the Biden administration, have made insurance much more affordable.
For those at the poverty line — earning between $15,000 to $20,000 a year — instead of contributing between 2 percent and 3 percent of their income, they were eligible for “zero premiums” plans. Low-income people can get a zero-premium silver plan with a deductible of $87, on average.
They may still be eligible for a zero or near zero premium bronze plan next year, but according to KFF it would come with a deductible more than $7,000 higher than what they pay currently.
CMS released the fact sheet ahead of the Nov. 1. start date of open enrollment. Democrats have long argued that if the enhanced federal subsidies aren’t renewed by that point, the impact on consumers will be dramatic.
Millions of people will see major price hikes on their plans, and the concern is many will decide not to be insured.
But the administration has not yet opened the HealthCare.gov website for window-shopping to allow consumers to select and compare plans ahead of time.
Senate Democrats on Monday called on the Trump administration to “stop hiding” premium increases and open window shopping immediately.
An HHS spokesperson said window shopping will launch before Saturday.
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.
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Essential Reads
How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:
GOP struggles to avoid ObamaCare boomerang amid shutdown
The shutdown debate over expiring enhanced ObamaCare subsidies has put Republicans on the defensive over health care, reopening old wounds over the 2017 attempt to repeal and replace the law. Fifteen years since the Affordable Care Act was passed, the scars from the repeal effort and the GOP’s lingering disgust for the law are influencing the party’s scattered response. While Republicans …
Texas sues Tylenol maker in wake of Trump’s unfounded autism warnings
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced Tuesday he will be suing drugmakers of acetaminophen for “deceptively marketing Tylenol to pregnant mothers,” basing his accusations off President Trump’s unfounded claims that the medication could be linked to autism. In an announcement, Paxton, who is challenging Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in next year’s midterms, claimed that Kenvue and Johnson & …
Greene says Johnson refused to share health care plans on GOP conference call
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) on Tuesday called out House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for not providing any plans on a Republican alternative to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and tax subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. “You left out that I said I have no respect for the House not being in session passing our bills and the President’s executive orders,” Greene wrote on social platform X, in response …
On Our Radar
Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
- The Senate Finance Committee will consider numerous nominations by President Trump on Wednesday, including the nomination of Thomas March Bell to be inspector general for HHS. Senate Democrats have strongly opposed Bell’s nomination.
In Other News
Branch out with a different read:
Warren has ‘serious doubt’ about Trump’s HHS inspector general nominee
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told President Trump’s nominee for inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that his professional history has raised “serious doubt” about his ability to be an “impartial investigator” for the agency. In a letter provided first to The Hill, Warren addressed Thomas March Bell, Trump’s nominee for HHS inspector general, and brought …
Around the Nation
Local and state headlines on health care:
- Drug-related seizures in Philadelphia ERs doubled in recent years, city data show (WHYY)
- Hospital price transparency law to take effect Nov. 1 (Oklahoma Voice)
- North Carolina expands rural nurse loan repayment initiative (WLOS)
What We’re Reading
Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
- A ticking clock: how states are preparing for a last-minute Obamacare deal (KFF Health News)
- Weight loss drugs are bringing down the country’s obesity rate, a survey shows (NPR)
- Behind the dismantling of the CDC: reform or ‘humiliation’? (The New York Times)
What People Think
Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill:
- US health policy must be guided by science, not ideology
- Insurers are mailing people unsolicited Cologuard tests, and it’s a terrible idea
You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
