OPINION:
Obamacare is a failure.
Even The Washington Post’s editorial board acknowledged that “the real problem is that the Affordable Care Act was never actually affordable.” The Post explained how President Obama’s “signature achievement” assumed that risk pools would be bigger than they turned out to be, leading to higher policy costs.
Democrats, recognizing the issue, have sought to bail out the program with taxpayer funding since its inception. COVID-19 subsidies were included in the American Rescue Plan of March 2021 and were extended to 2025 in the Inflation Reduction Act. Both pieces of legislation were passed during President Biden’s term and didn’t receive a single Republican vote in either the House or the Senate.
Republicans have long lamented the costs of Obamacare. Extending the COVID-19 subsidies will incur a fee of $350 billion over the next decade, with no mechanism in place to cover the cost. According to KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, the federal government funneled more than $200 billion to insurers in 2023 and 2024 alone to keep premium increases artificially low to the public.
Herein lies the problem: Although the Affordable Care Act is a flawed program, offering Americans fewer choices, smaller networks, and higher premiums and deductibles, Obamacare health plans now cover more than 24 million people because of generous government subsidies.
The Inflation Reduction Act allowed people making as much as $23,475 annually to get Obamacare plans at no cost. The American Rescue Plan widened the net of those eligible for a premium subsidy to those earning more than 400% of the federal poverty level, the equivalent of a family of four making more than $128,600 yearly. Thus, many who could afford private insurance opted to enroll in Obamacare instead because it was (artificially) cheaper.
Of the 75 congressional districts where at least 10% of the population is enrolled in the Affordable Care Act, 62 are in the Republican-leaning states of Florida, Georgia and Texas, according to KFF. If Obamacare subsidies aren’t extended by the end of the year, at least 20 million people will be confronted with higher premiums.
“Let’s just say as nicely as possible, I’m not a fan [of Obamacare],” Republican firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X this month. “But I’m going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district.”
President Trump’s White House is also sensing the political risks of not extending Obamacare subsidies, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Trump’s advisers have privately acknowledged this week that although their boss has long called for repealing Obamacare, allowing the subsidies to expire could cause political headaches for a president who was elected in large part because of voter frustrations with inflation and the rising cost of living,” The Journal reported on Oct. 2. “Voters have expressed deepening frustration with Trump’s handling of the economy in recent polls amid a weak jobs market and stubborn inflation.”
Although Republicans have long fought Obamacare and warned of its failures since its inception, they have failed to repeal it or prevent its expansion.
During Mr. Trump’s first term, Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, tanked Republican efforts to shred the Affordable Care Act, allowing the program to continue. Since then, conservatives have complained of its costs, inefficiencies and waste but have done nothing to prevent the program from becoming an ingrained entitlement in American society.
President Reagan correctly said, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So governments’ programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”
Republicans have the opportunity to pare back Obamacare subsidies this year if they remain strong and are genuinely committed to reducing government largesse, as they claim. It will, however, come with a political cost, one that too few in Washington are willing to make.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, reportedly told Democrats that he is willing to allow a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies in exchange for their reopening the government.
Watch Republicans cave again. This time, however, they will have no moral high ground to bemoan Obamacare’s failures. They will, in fact, own them if Republicans vote on an extension.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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