{"id":2295113,"date":"2024-07-15T08:14:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T12:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-health-insurance-plan-would-grow-the-deficit-by-335b\/"},"modified":"2024-07-15T08:21:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T12:21:34","slug":"bidens-health-insurance-plan-would-grow-the-deficit-by-335b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-health-insurance-plan-would-grow-the-deficit-by-335b\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden&#8217;s Health Insurance Plan Would Grow The Deficit By $335B"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbidens-health-insurance-plan-would-grow-the-deficit-by-335b%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2295113&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the potential consequences of extending\u200d Obamacare subsidies as proposed by Joe Biden, which could lead to millions of Americans losing\u2064 their employer-based <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">health coverage<\/a>. The Congressional Budget\u2063 Office estimates that\u200d the increase in \u200csubsidies would result \u2064in a decline in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lefts-latest-health-care-scheme-will-worsen-inflation-the-deficit-and-your-insurance\/\" title=\"Left\u2019s Latest Health Care Scheme Will Worsen Inflation, The Deficit, And Your Insurance\">employment-based coverage<\/a>, while also increasing the number of insured Americans through government spending. The article also highlights how the elimination of income-based caps on subsidy eligibility\u200c could\u2064 allow wealthy individuals to qualify\u2062 for subsidized policies, leading to inefficient government spending. Additionally, the article notes that Biden&#8217;s proposals also benefit illegal\u2063 immigrants by allowing DACA recipients \u200bto qualify for subsidies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Four presidential elections ago, Barack Obama won the White House in part by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qpa-5JdCnmo\">promising<\/a> that under his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/workers-health-care-restored-after-union-bosses-back-down\/\" title=\"Workers\u2019 Health Care Restored After Union Bosses Back Down\">health care plan<\/a>, \u201cIf you like your plan, you can keep it.\u201d It ended up not being true, of course \u2014 so much so that Politifact made this claim its \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2013\/dec\/12\/lie-year-if-you-like-your-health-care-plan-keep-it\/\">Lie of the Year<\/a>\u201d for 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward over a decade, and Joe Biden is promoting proposals that would again put millions of Americans\u2019 health coverage in his sights. Democrats\u2019 plan to extend a \u201ctemporary\u201d increase in Obamacare subsidies would lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sf-city-attorney-calls-out-teachers-unions-vaccine-demands-unlawful\/\" title=\"SF City Attorney Calls Out Teachers\u2019 Union\u2019s Vaccine Demands: \u2018Unlawful\u2019\">significant amounts<\/a> of new federal spending, even as it further undermines the system by which most Americans obtain insurance.<\/p>\n<h2>Employers Dropping Coverage <\/h2>\n<p>Just before the Independence Day holiday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a detailed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2024-06\/60437-Arrington-Smith-Letter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimate<\/a> requested by two House committee chairmen about the cost of extending the increased Obamacare subsidies. The higher subsidies for Exchange coverage, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/02\/how-democrats-covid-bill-gives-welfare-to-the-wealthy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first included<\/a> in Democrats\u2019 partisan \u201cstimulus\u201d bill in early 2021, were extended for an <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/19\/democrats-plan-to-snatch-medicare-dollars-from-seniors-to-subsidize-their-rich-friends\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">additional three years<\/a> in 2022. As such, the subsidies now expire at the end of 2025 \u2014 at the same time as many provisions of the 2017 Trump tax relief package.<\/p>\n<p>CBO found that the increase in Exchange subsidies would lead to a \u201c3.5 million decrease in enrollment in employment-based coverage.\u201d The budget office explained that \u201cthe decline in employment-based coverage would be larger under a permanent [subsidy] extension,\u201d because \u201cmore employers would change their offers of health insurance if the policy became permanent.\u201d In other words, if you like your plan, tough luck \u2014 your employer could cancel it for you.<\/p>\n<p>Also worth noting: CBO concluded that, on net, extending the subsidies would increase the number of insured Americans by 3.4 million \u2014 a number smaller than the <em>3.5 million<\/em> who will lose employer-based coverage under the proposal. In other words, more new people who <em>already had insurance<\/em> (albeit through an employer) will receive subsidies than will become newly insured. That\u2019s the definition of inefficient government spending.<\/p>\n<h2>Welfare for the Wealthy \u2014 and Illegal Immigrants<\/h2>\n<p>The increase in employers \u201cdumping\u201d coverage comes in part because the increase in subsidies passed under President Biden eliminated the income-based cap on subsidy eligibility. From the Exchanges\u2019 launch in 2014 through 2021, only households with incomes under four times the poverty level ($124,800 for a <a href=\"https:\/\/aspe.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/7240229f28375f54435c5b83a3764cd1\/detailed-guidelines-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">family of four this year<\/a>) qualified for subsidies.<\/p>\n<p>Eliminating the income cap makes it easier for employers to drop coverage because they know that even their affluent workers could qualify for subsidized policies on the insurance Exchanges. Indeed, the CBO analysis shows just that. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-looks-to-beef-up-americas-most-detested-federal-agency-to-underwrite-infrastructure-bill\/\" title=\"Biden Looks To Beef Up America\u2019s Most Detested Federal Agency To Underwrite Infrastructure Bill\">budget office concluded<\/a> that should the increased subsidies become permanent, the federal government will spend $6.9 billion in the coming decade on insurance subsidies for households with income exceeding 750 percent of the poverty level.<\/p>\n<p>For context, this year that 750 percent-of-poverty threshold stands at $112,950 for an individual, and $234,000. As someone who recently has had years with income <em>below<\/em> that level, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/02\/how-democrats-covid-bill-gives-welfare-to-the-wealthy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">there is no reason<\/a> households this affluent should qualify for \u201clow-income\u201d subsidies for health coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Another beneficiary of Biden\u2019s proposals is illegal immigrants. The CBO analysis also put a cost estimate on the regulatory action <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/08\/biden-hhs-redefines-lawfully-present-to-give-free-health-care-to-illegal-immigrants\/\">taken by the administration<\/a> to allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to qualify for subsidies. Unless undone by a future administration (and\/or struck down by courts), that policy will cost $9 billion in the coming decade, plus an additional $1.6 billion in interest costs.<\/p>\n<h2>Congress: Just Say No!<\/h2>\n<p>All told, CBO concluded that making these \u201ctemporary\u201d subsidies permanent \u2014 which Democrats wanted to do all along, despite including it as part of \u201cCovid relief\u201d in 2021 \u2014 would increase the deficit by a net of $335 billion over the next decade, plus an additional $48.3 billion in interest costs. All this for a policy that would, as noted above, spend billions subsidizing people who already had health insurance.<\/p>\n<p>Recent weeks have also seen reports of potential fraud regarding the subsidies, with <a href=\"https:\/\/paragoninstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/The-Great-Obamacare-Enrollment-Fraud_FOR_RELEASE_V1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">troubling data<\/a> suggesting that recipients are lying about their income to qualify for \u201cfree\u201d insurance. Because Democrats\u2019 2021 increases in subsidies created these \u201cpremium-free\u201d policies, it doesn\u2019t take a rocket scientist to realize that allowing the increased subsidies to expire as scheduled next year would eliminate an incentive that currently seems to be powering significant amounts of fraud.<\/p>\n<p>And to save the best for last, our <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/24\/two-trillion-dollar-deficits-show-washington-has-a-spending-problem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">skyrocketing national debt<\/a> also provides Congress with nearly 35 trillion reasons to just say no to an extension of these Obamacare subsidies. Here\u2019s hoping lawmakers come to their senses and stop spending other people\u2019s money that we do not have.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group, and author of the book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/chrisjacobsHC\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Four elections ago, Barack Obama promised that people could keep their health care plans under his plan, which turned out to be false. Now, Joe Biden is proposing to extend Obamacare subsidies, which could lead to employers dropping coverage and increase in federal spending. The increase in subsidies could also benefit wealthy individuals and illegal immigrants. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that making these subsidies permanent could increase the deficit by $335 billion over the next decade. There are also concerns about fraud related to the subsidies. With the national debt rising, Congress should consider not extending these subsidies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2295114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/President-Biden-Remarks-3.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3620,4463,9647,35077,35076],"class_list":["post-2295113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-biden","tag-budget","tag-deficit","tag-economic-impact","tag-health-insurance"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/President-Biden-Remarks-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2295113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2295113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2295113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2295114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2295113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2295113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2295113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}