The new year is here, and so are the consequences of the Republicans’ health care crisis. Nearly 22 million Americans are seeing their health care premiums double, triple, and even quadruple in cost because Republicans prioritized tax breaks for GOP billionaires and big corporations over providing relief for working people. Late last month, Democrats’ clean, three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits became the only majority-supported and bipartisan legislation in the House. But instead of providing relief for working families, Republicans skipped town. Now, the GOP is desperately trying to outrun the consequences of their own actions, but they can’t escape the barrage of headlines tracking the fallout.
New York Times: With Obamacare’s Higher Premiums Come Difficult Decisions
- But without the enhanced subsidies, many people are seeing the cost of coverage more than double, increasing by hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month, because the tax credits are now in line with what they were before.
- These higher costs are forcing many people to make hard choices. Some are deciding to go without health insurance; others are choosing a less generous plan that has lower premiums but requires them to pay thousands of dollars more in out-of-pocket expenses.
- Congress could still decide to extend the enhanced subsidies sometime this year. But while Democrats have pushed for an extension, even making it a core demand to reopen the federal government during the shutdown in the fall, the Republicans who control Congress remain divided about whether to extend them.
POLITICO: Old Headaches Will Plague Mike Johnson in the New Year
- “He will immediately confront a growing battle within his ranks this week over how to tackle high health care costs after Republicans allowed enhanced Obamacare tax credits to expire at the end of 2025.”
The Hill: This Week on the Hill: GOP Faces Health Care Bind With Subsidies Expired
- “GOP lawmakers returning to Capitol Hill are facing a health care bind, with Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies having expired Dec. 31, and no clear path forward for extending them.”
- “The government funding deadline is Jan. 31. And Democrats aren’t afraid to play hardball. If the health care issue isn’t resolved by then, they could potentially use a funding deal as leverage to press for an extension of the subsidies.”
POLITICO: ‘Mighty Mad’: Democrats Prepare to Harness Public Anger Over Expired Obamacare Subsidies
- “Obamacare subsidies used by more than 20 million expired Thursday. Now Democrats are ready to make them a centerpiece of their midterm campaigns.”
- “A KFF poll released in December found that large majorities of enrollees in Obamacare marketplace plans want the subsidies to continue, regardless of party. About three-quarters of that group said they would blame Trump or Republicans in Congress if the subsidies were to lapse.”
Common Dreams: Republicans in Congress Ripped for ‘Entirely Preventable’ 2026 Healthcare Crisis
- “‘When the clock strikes midnight, the fallout of the GOP’s premium hikes will ripple throughout the nation,’ Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach said in a Wednesday statement. ‘This new year brings a healthcare catastrophe unlike anything this nation has ever seen. Hardworking Americans will be sent into crippling medical debt, emptying out their savings just to see a doctor. Others will be forced to live without the life-saving coverage they need. Untold tens of thousands will die from preventable causes.’”
NPR: Farmers Are About to Pay a Lot More for Health Insurance
- “It’s been a tough year for farmers. Between falling prices for commodity crops like corn and soybeans, rising input costs for supplies like fertilizer and seeds, the Trump tariffs and the dismantling of USAID, many in agriculture won’t be profitable this year.”
- “Farmers are used to facing challenges like unpredictable weather and fluctuating commodity prices. But the loss of the enhanced subsidies, coupled with the challenging economic conditions, will make coverage unaffordable for many.”
- “James Davis, 55, who grows cotton, soybeans and corn in north Louisiana, said he doesn’t know how he and his wife will afford coverage next year, when their insurance premium will quadruple, jumping to about $2,700 a month.”
- “‘You can’t afford it. Bottom line, there’s nothing to discuss. You can’t afford it without the subsidies,’ Davis said.”
CNN: These Small-Business Owners Will Become Uninsured After Key ACA Subsidies Expire
- “Jeff, a freelance musician from New York City who earns so little that he did not have to pay a premium this year and last year, waited until mid-December to sign onto his state’s exchange. When he saw the cheapest plan for 2026 would cost him $275 a month, he closed his laptop since he knew he couldn’t afford it and would become uninsured. Instead, he went back to searching for a gig to replace one he just lost.”
- “The fact that Republicans in Congress are not renewing the enhanced subsidies infuriates Jeff, 50, a registered Democrat who asked that his last name not be used to protect his privacy.”
- “‘We can find money to build an arch and a ballroom that are completely unnecessary and tax cuts for billionaires,’ he said, referencing President Donald Trump’s construction plans and the GOP domestic agenda package that passed this summer. ‘But we can’t insure people medically in this country. It’s unconscionable.’”
El País: The New Victims of the Republican War on Obamacare: Millions Hit by Soaring Health Insurance Premiums
- “The situation is a direct consequence of the fact that the additional subsidies for beneficiaries of the public health insurance support system implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end on December 31. These cuts were part of the sweeping tax bill passed by the Republican majority in Congress last summer.”
The New Republic: Here’s What Happens Now That We’re Going Over the Obamacare Cliff
- “The expiration of the enhanced credits comes within the larger context of dramatic cuts to Medicaid and changes to the ACA marketplace as part of massive Republican legislation that slashed government spending over the summer. The measure will tighten work requirements for Medicaid, and made several changes to the ACA marketplace, including shortening the open enrollment period and adding new verification requirements. (These provisions will go into effect in 2026 and 2027.) Between the changes to Medicaid and the ACA marketplace in the Republican law and the expiration of the premium subsidies, the number of uninsured Americans is expected to jump to 16 million by 2034.”