The hill they have chosen to die on

[Mik]

Is, in fact, an anthill. Premiums are increasing way more than the ACAC subsidies everywhere. My Part D went up 35% this year after a similar increase the year before.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/health-check-new-data-blunts-democrats-core-claim-in-funding-fight-over-obamacare-subsidies/ar-AA1OVSxy

[Axtremus]

The "Paragon Health Institute" was founded in 2021 by former Trump officials and is still being run by former Trump officials today. (E.g., https://paragoninstitute.org/profile/brian-blase/ ). Be sure to carefully consider potential political and ideological biases give its background.

Consider other sources, like, for example, the KFF, that has been around far longer (founded in 1948) and has been a non-partisan healthcare policy think tank for a long time.

https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/premium-payments-if-enhanced-premium-tax-credits-expire/

[Mik]

The question remains are they important enough that we should borrow to pay for them. You are straining at gnats and swallowing camels.

These premiums are ridiculously low even without the enhanced subsidies. This is from your own link.

[jon-nyc]

The real beneficiaries of the additional premium subsidies are at the 400% of poverty level. Their example of the guy at 200% isn’t representative.

400% of poverty level is 58k for a single person or 79k for a couple.

[Axtremus]

@Mik said in The hill they have chosen to die on:

The question remains are they important enough that we should borrow to pay for them.

1. We should tax and pay for them.

2. Even if you want to restrict the argument to "borrowing," of all the things we "borrow to pay for," one would think that the health of the citizenry should be pretty high up on priority.

3. Without sufficient insurance coverage, the uninsured will still get healthcare anyway -- but through much costlier means such as going to emergency rooms rather than primary care, and/or cost a lot more for worsened ailments that could have been diagnosed and treated early on the cheap had there been sufficient insurance.