{"id":2495998,"date":"2025-10-08T07:51:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T11:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-obamacare-premiums-are-not-doubling\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T07:54:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T11:54:52","slug":"no-obamacare-premiums-are-not-doubling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-obamacare-premiums-are-not-doubling\/","title":{"rendered":"No, Obamacare Premiums Are Not Doubling"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/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%2Fno-obamacare-premiums-are-not-doubling%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=2495998&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 Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene&#8217;s claims that when the enhanced COVID-related health insurance subsidies expire at the end of 2024, insurance premiums for many people, including her own children, will double in 2026. The author argues that this claim is misleading and inaccurate. Only the temporary enhanced subsidies introduced during the Biden administration in response to the pandemic are ending, not the original Obamacare subsidies, which will continue to provide critically important coverage.<\/p>\n<p>The confusion arises from mixing up insurance premiums (the total cost of the plan) with out-of-pocket costs (the portion paid by consumers after subsidies). Although out-of-pocket expenses will rise without the enhanced subsidies, premiums themselves will not double. Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that federal subsidies will still cover the majority of premiums-around 78% after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/to-cut-waste-stop-obamacare-subsidies-for-zombie-enrollees\/\" title=\"To Cut Waste, Stop ... For &#039;Zombie Enrollees&#039;\">enhanced subsidies expire<\/a>, down from 88% now.<\/p>\n<p>The article also criticizes left-leaning groups and think tanks for emphasizing out-of-pocket cost increases to create a sense of crisis, while downplaying the fact that federal funding remains considerable.It points out that people who currently pay very little out-of-pocket may see higher percentage increases that can be exaggerated for political effect,even if the absolute dollar amount is small.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the piece highlights concerns about fraud related to free insurance plans funded by the enhanced subsidies and suggests that asking beneficiaries to pay something, even a small amount, helps discourage fraud and promotes personal obligation.<\/p>\n<p>the author acknowledges the rising unaffordability of Obamacare plans but argues that simply increasing taxpayer-funded subsidies is not the right solution. The article was written by Chris Jacobs,founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group.  <\/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>Into the debate on extending the Biden administration&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/02\/how-democrats-covid-bill-gives-welfare-to-the-wealthy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Covid subsidies for health coverage<\/a> stepped Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. <\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/repmtg\/status\/1975337063697555652?s=46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">X post<\/a> Monday evening, Greene claimed that &ldquo;when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-push-to-extend-obamacare-subsidies\/\" title=\"Republicans push to extend ...\">tax credits expire<\/a> this year my own adult children&rsquo;s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district.&rdquo; She went on to repeat the claim that premiums would &ldquo;DOUBLE&rdquo; &mdash; with all caps in the original &mdash; two other times in the lengthy post.<\/p>\n<p>With all due respect, that&rsquo;s the exact type of framing coming from the Marxist left &mdash; and it&rsquo;s also inaccurate. Premiums won&rsquo;t double, by a long shot.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>&lsquo;Temporary&rsquo; Subsidies Expiring<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>First things first: Contrary to Greene&rsquo;s claim, most of the Obamacare subsidies are <em>not<\/em> expiring, for good or for ill. Only the enhanced subsidies <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/02\/how-democrats-covid-bill-gives-welfare-to-the-wealthy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed by the Biden administration in 2021<\/a>, and <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\">extended in 2022<\/a>, will lapse effective Dec. 31. The Biden administration sold those subsidies as a &ldquo;temporary&rdquo; response to the Covid pandemic, but now, as with most of the Covid spending binge, Democrats want to make it permanent.<\/p>\n<p>But, to Greene&rsquo;s larger point, she and others &mdash; primarily leftist groups who want to keep the Obamacare bailouts going &mdash; are conflating <em>premiums<\/em> with <em>out-of-pocket costs<\/em>. The former aren&rsquo;t doubling, and the latter are rising only because the expiration of the enhanced subsidies (but not the subsidies included in the original version of Obamacare) is revealing how unaffordable the &ldquo;Affordable Care Act&rdquo; is for consumers.<\/p>\n<p>Greene&rsquo;s own post implicitly admits this fact. She added a screenshot that included the following bullet point from the Kaiser Family Foundation: &ldquo;If the enhanced subsidies expire, the average annual premium for subsidized enrollees could rise by 114%, from $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Doing the math shows that, under this scenario, &ldquo;premiums&rdquo; would rise from $74 per month to just under $159 per month next year. But if you think the full premium for health insurance comes to only $159 per month, I&rsquo;ve got some land I want to sell you.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Dishonest Think Tanks<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A graphic from a July 2024 Kaiser <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/affordable-care-act\/inflation-reduction-act-health-insurance-subsidies-what-is-their-impact-and-what-would-happen-if-they-expire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">policy brief<\/a> illustrates the difference in terms visually. The premium consists of the entire bar graph &mdash; the blue, green, and purple columns &mdash; while the green column shows what households actually pay out-of-pocket.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>If the enhanced subsidies &mdash; the purple bar in the 2024 column &mdash; go away, a family would have to pay that amount out-of-pocket, which would get added to the green bar above it. But the federal government would still pay for the vast majority of premium costs, the blue bar in the graph. In this case, the federal government would fund &ldquo;only&rdquo; 78 percent of premiums, as opposed to 88 percent of the total premium under the enhanced subsidies.<\/p>\n<p>Kaiser and similar groups don&rsquo;t want to highlight the fact that letting the enhanced subsidies expire would mean that federal taxpayers are still paying more than three-quarters of total premiums. Democrats want to create a sense of crisis, to scare members of Congress into bailing out Obamacare. Unsurprisingly, more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/affordable-care-act\/aca-marketplace-premium-payments-would-more-than-double-on-average-next-year-if-enhanced-premium-tax-credits-expire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent work from Kaiser<\/a> has <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >eliminated graphics showing total premiums<\/a> and the sizable premium subsidies that will remain after Dec. 31, instead solely discussing the out-of-pocket effects.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Out-of-Pocket Costs Too Low?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A related principle worth remembering in this discussion: People with low, or no, out-of-pocket costs would see the highest percentage increases, which lends itself to more partisan scaremongering. By Greene&rsquo;s logic, if someone&rsquo;s out-of-pocket cost went from $1 per month to $3 per month, their &ldquo;premiums&rdquo; would TRIPLE. But in absolute terms, would $2 per month make or break a family? Not in most cases.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is also worth repeating that &ldquo;free&rdquo; insurance &mdash; that is, policies with no out-of-pocket costs per month &mdash; created by the enhanced Covid subsidies are at the heart of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/19\/budget-office-estimates-tens-of-billions-lost-to-obamacare-exchange-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">many reports<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/25\/big-beautiful-bill-will-save-taxpayers-from-paying-millions-to-fund-medicaid-for-dead-people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Obamacare-related fraud<\/a> in recent years. Given that fraud estimates from the Exchange subsidies alone range into the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/19\/budget-office-estimates-tens-of-billions-lost-to-obamacare-exchange-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tens of billions of dollars<\/a> per year, it&rsquo;s entirely reasonable to ask people to pay <em>something<\/em> &mdash; even if it amounts to $10 or $20 per month &mdash; for their monthly health coverage, both to promote personal responsibility and to discourage fraud.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As someone who pays over $600 per month for an Obamacare plan that is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/15\/us\/politics\/many-say-high-deductibles-make-their-health-law-insurance-all-but-useless.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">effectively useless<\/a> unless I get hit by a bus, I fully recognize how unaffordable the &ldquo;Affordable Care Act&rdquo; has become. But throwing more taxpayer money at the problem isn&rsquo;t the answer.<\/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>Rep. Greene claims Covid subsidies ending will double premiums<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2495999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Marjorie-Taylor-Greene.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33319,35076,34630,12589,64806],"class_list":["post-2495998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-affordable-care-act","tag-health-insurance","tag-healthcare-costs","tag-obamacare","tag-premiums"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Marjorie-Taylor-Greene.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495998","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=2495998"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2496002,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495998\/revisions\/2496002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2495999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}