January 1, Obama Hits Trail as Obamacare Costs Climb

Wyatt’s Take

• Obama is out campaigning for Democrats while Obamacare faces growing backlash.
• Health insurance premiums under Obamacare are about to spike next year.
• Democrats are pushing to extend subsidies, but it could mean a bigger federal deficit.

Former President Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail, trying to help Democrat candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill win governor races in Virginia and New Jersey. Obama will be stumping for Spanberger at Old Dominion University in Norfolk before heading north to support Sherrill in Newark.

This push comes while the nation deals with a long government shutdown—a gridlock over extending Obamacare subsidies, which are set to run out by December.

Since Obamacare was signed into law, it gave tax credits to help folks afford insurance. During COVID, Congress made those credits even bigger, but that extra help is expiring soon. Democrats say they won’t reopen the government without keeping those subsidies.

“If these ACA premium tax credits aren’t extended, the average fifty-five-year-old couple making $85,000 a year would see their premiums not just double, but triple to $25,000 a year,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Schumer added: “That is all Democrats want to fix. We are on the side of the people. The people know it and want it and need it.”

Back when Obama signed Obamacare into law, he promised it would “lower costs for families and for businesses and for the federal government, reducing our deficit by over $1T in the next two decades.”

Obama also said, “ten years from now, people will look back and say, this was the right thing to do.”

Over a decade later, Republicans disagree. They say Obamacare has made healthcare more expensive and added to government debt. Sen. Rick Scott said, “Look at how much this is all costing us. Obamacare was sold on a lie. The costs have skyrocketed.”

Scott also said, “Obama promised you wouldn’t lose your doctor, well, you did. You wouldn’t lose your plan, you did. You were supposed to save $2,500 a family, that was a lie. You were supposed to save over a hundred million dollars of our federal budget.”

Now, about 24 million Americans use Obamacare plans. Next year, insurance companies expect to raise their premiums. The Kaiser Family Foundation says premiums could jump 26% on average for these plans in 2026. For states on Healthcare.gov, that number could be as high as 30%.

Extending these extra subsidies could raise the federal deficit by $350 billion through 2035, according to the Congressional Budget Office. With the shutdown dragging on, Obama is being called in to rally Democrats, but he also faces renewed criticism over his healthcare law.

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Wyatt Matters

Folks in the heartland know what happens when the bills go up and paychecks don’t. As these health costs get out of hand, working families will feel the pinch while politicians argue. We need solutions that put Main Street first, not DC insiders.