Three in four Americans — and 50% of Republicans — want Congress to extend tax credits for those with low and moderate incomes so they can afford individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act, a new KFF poll shows.
The tax credits, or subsidies, make health insurance premiums more affordable for individuals. They were enhanced by the Biden administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress in 2021, allowing more Americans to buy coverage. The enhanced subsidies, which expire at the end of this year, helped enrollment in the ACA’s individual coverage, also known as Obamacare, eclipse a record 24 million Americans, boosting its popularity to all-time highs.
But legislation sitting before Congress that would extend the tax credits has yet to pass either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. The issue of whether to extend tax credits is the key issue that triggered the shutdown of the federal government after President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress didn’t come to an agreement with Democrats about the future of the enhanced subsidies. The shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history, surpassing the previous 35-day government funding lapse of 2019.
“The expiring tax credits are a central issue in the ongoing Congressional budget standoff, as Democrats want the tax credits extended as part of a budget deal while Republicans want to reopen the government before negotiating over an extension,” KFF said in its analysis of the poll data, which was released Thursday.
“The new poll finds little change in the public’s views on extending the tax credits since before the shutdown began, though support among Republicans dipped (from 59% in September to 50% now),” KFF said. “Among those who identify as supporters of President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, support fell from 57% in September to 44% now.”
If Congress doesn’t extend the tax credits, Americans who buy coverage via the government’s healthcare.gov exchange or other state exchanges will see a major spike in premiums — 75% or more, health insurers have said. Open enrollment began Nov. 1 and runs to Dec. 15.
In the last two weeks, health insurers are already reporting they expect to lose customers without the enhanced subsidies.
“We are supporting a population staring down (enhanced premium tax credit) expiration and potentially the wholesale loss of affordable healthcare coverage next year,” Sarah London, chief executive officer of health insurer Centene said last week as she discussed the company’s third quarter earnings on a call with analysts.
Centene is the nation’s largest provider of Obamacare with 5.8 million enrollees in its Ambetter brand health plans.
UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer and a unit of healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group, has 1.7 million Obamacare enrollees but is expecting to lose two-thirds of them.
“Where we are unable to reach agreement on sustainable rates, we are enacting targeted service area reductions,” UnitedHealthcare chief executive Tim Noel told analysts during a call last week to discuss the company’s third quarter earnings. “We believe these actions will establish a sustainable premium base — while likely reducing our ACA enrollment by approximately two-thirds.”
