Will you chip in to support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation today? Yes, I want to support My Edmonds News!
Starting Saturday, Nov. 1, Washingtonians who need to buy health insurance through the state’s online marketplace can enroll in or change their plans.
The beginning of open enrollment comes as the federal government shutdown continues amid disagreements in Congress about the future of federal subsidies for these health insurance policies, which are available under the Affordable Care Act.
These tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year without an extension from Congress. Democrats have refused to vote to end the shutdown without Republicans agreeing to extend the subsidies.
Premiums for individual insurance bought on the Washington Health Benefit Exchange are rising an average of 21%, due in part to the loss of these enhanced tax credits, which started during the COVID pandemic. This increase is in line with similar hikes nationwide. The average growth rate last year was 10.7% in Washington.
The state Office of the Insurance Commissioner estimates the increase this year would be 6% or 7% less if the tax credits continued.
Though at this point, it’s unclear how Congress deciding to extend the tax credits would affect premiums now that open enrollment is beginning.
The Washington exchange’s CEO, Ingrid Ulrey, said last week that if Congress takes action, “we are committed to delivering that relief to our customers as quickly as possible.”
Nearly 300,000 Washington residents buy insurance on the exchange. About three-quarters of them qualified for the federal tax credits, helping them decrease annual premiums by an average of $1,330. For seniors, those savings jump to more than $1,900 annually.
The exchange is used by people who do not have access to health insurance through their jobs or from government programs, like Medicaid.
In some parts of Washington, enrollees who benefit from the tax credits could see their premiums double without them. The hardest-hit spots are in rural areas of Eastern Washington, according to a report from U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
State officials expect 80,000 people to now forgo health insurance if the credits aren’t extended. Washington’s uninsured rate has been improving for years, to 4.8% in 2023. Officials worry the end of the subsidies will cause the state to backslide on that progress.
“That means higher costs and strains on our health care system as people put off preventative care,” state Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer said Thursday. “These effects will be felt by people across the state, but will hurt some of our rural communities the hardest.”
Those who choose to go without insurance are more likely to be healthy, likely fueling further premium hikes for those who remain insured, as the insurance pool would be less healthy overall and more risky for insurers.
The state still offers options for financial help, including Cascade Care Savings for people who make up to 250% of the federal poverty line. The premium assistance program, launched in 2023, helps nearly 100,000 residents.
Washington’s exchange is seeking $130 million per year in state funding for Cascade Care Savings to mitigate the loss of the federal tax credits. This would require legislative approval.
Open enrollment will run through Jan. 15. To begin coverage by Jan. 1, enrollees should sign up by Dec. 15. Those who apply later will have their plans begin Feb. 1. Existing customers will be automatically renewed, but can still shop around and compare plans.
Enrollees have been able to browse their options and prices since last week.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com.
The tax credits need to end, the Covid event is over. Back to pre-Covid life folks.
On the contrary, the tax credits do not need to end. Those who preferred to give tax credits to the wealthy have chosen to remove the health care tax credits that allowed people to have health care insurance through the time of COVID 19 and afterwards. Now more people will be without health care insurance, which increases the cost for those who can afford it. A lose-lose for everyone.
Biden and the democrats pushed through Temporary and unneeded increased Obamacare subsidies as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. Said subsidies were designed to sunset effective 12/31/2025. The only thing the BBB Bill did was leave those needless subsidies alone and allow them to sunset. Just. The. Way. Biden. Intended.
William, you do realize if this continues, the whole healthcare system will be even more strained? A large percentage of the population will forgo their healthcare because it’s doubling. Our hospitals will be even more strained which will affect care for people who can afford health insurance including people like you if you, god forbid, need to go to the hospital. Seems to me like you’re severely misinformed or are very blindly following only one narrative. Your response also makes me think you are either privileged or you yourself are suffering and want others to do the same so you feel like your suffering is warranted. Was it that way pre-covid? With your reasoning, that means everything cost wise would lower and inflation would also reverse etc. Everyone deserves food, water, shelter and free Healthcare. No one should die because they can’t pay for care. People like you really scare me. In an emergency you would just save yourself and that makes me sad.
Kurt, how easily you dismiss the needs of millions of Americans who will be unable to afford health care without the subsidies. Yes, the subsidies in question were temporary and Biden approved of their duration. You make it appear as that was his intent. When you look back at the time of their approval by Congress the subsidies needed enough support to pass. Limiting their duration was a means to that end. Trump had to do the same with the tax cuts he wanted during his first term. Thus the need for Congress to approve them once again recently.
On a personal note I am unsure whether I will be able to afford a plan in 2026. I have yet to examine my alternatives. I definitely resent those legislators who have helped make health care so unaffordable that people will have to resort to emergency rooms for care. I will have to pay for that care. I support the law requiring hospitals to provide it. I object to our lack as a country for people to have access to affordable and comprehensive health care. And by the way, to blame affordability on undocumented immigrants is a farce.
I mentioned the callous sunset provision from the Biden Team on purpose. Obamacare is gutting healthcare in the U.S. and it has only taken 15 years to do so. The so-called promise/lie of Obama/Pelosi/Schumer/Reid was that if we liked our Plans we could keep out Plans; if we liked our doctors we could keep out doctors. False in retrospect. But the real whopper was when Obama declared during his victory lap that each U.S. family would experience a $2,500 savings on health insurance each year.
Everyone is experiencing a significant increase in healthcare premiums, individuals, those on Employer Plans, those on Obamacare and even Medicare (Obamacare stole $800BB from Medicare in order to fund expanded state Medicaid Programs. No, those losing the temporary expanded benefits will just have to budget expenses like the rest of us.
Clearly many people were and are now bitter about their health care experiences. To blame all of this on Obamacare is an example of scapegoating. The ACA allowed millions of the uninsured to qualify for health care insurance. It did not solve the problem of there not being enough health care workers to serve these new people. It did not make the system simpler to navigate. As soon as it was passed, Republicans began sabotaging it by cutting funding to its parts while offering the possibility of something better that they never delivered.
To say that Obamacare is gutting healthcare is a clear example of a misunderstanding of the forces straining health care in the country: excessive overhead due to complexities and duplication, tying health care to employers, lack of enough doctors and nurses, the use of profit to drive delivery of care. Since I am not an expert I am sure that I am overlooking other problems with US health care. I say this while being under the care of some excellent doctors. My main gripe is having to pay more for the care of people who don’t have health care insurance either because they choose not to purchase it or can’t afford it.
Your comments denote an very incomplete understanding and naive approach to health care and health insurance in the U.S. Obamacare was passed in the dead of night amid lies and false promises simply because it was such a wrong headed and tragically flawed bill. I say that not just as a fiscal conservative, but also from the perspective of 45 years in higher level HR positions designing, negotiating and implementing effective Employer based Group Health Plans (both insured and Self-Funded).
Obamacare robbed from existing programs, gutted state umbrella social welfare and catastrophic insurance plans and loaded all types of unfunded mandates on not only Employers, but state/local governments.
To all: could we please tone down the insults and stick to the facts? It is tiresome and frankly after the election I am tired of it — and I am now editing comments to reflect. — Teresa
In the spirit of respectful dialogue my last comment is that anyone who spent 45 years working to make a system work has to have a high level of commitment to its wellbeing. People come from all over the world to undergo medical services that are done here with excellence. Yet it has been and continues to be true that millions in the country cannot afford to have health care. They do not have a family physician. The ACA attempted to provide millions more access to heath care than that which previously existed relying on employers. Obama’s program was one based on another implemented successfully by then Republican governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney. At the very least, how difficult is it to admit that making insurance companies accept those with preexisting conditions for coverage is a good thing?
Certainly in the same vein I will respond that Romneycare first and foremost was already failing even before Obamacare was passed. It was underfunded constantly for the less than 600k subscribers it was intended to cover. The state legislature had to come back and expand taxes to fund it almost every single session. More individual employers dropped coverage over the decade post implementation; even those who were self funded and not subject to the law. It also never changed population habits of utilizing the ER for regular, truly non-emergent care. Just ask any ER personnel today and the exact same issues exist. An excellent book on the subject is Sway: The irresistible pull of irrational behavior. Authors are Ori and Rom Brafman.
Obamacare then was Romneycare on steroids and a calculated, cynical ploy to crash the U.S. Healthcare System and drive normal people to beg for a more government total controlled system. See what is happening currently less than a full 15 years post implementation.
Isn’t it amazing, Kurt, how the same circumstances and events can be seen so differently. One rule I tend to follow is that if what people are telling me is the truth and I know it to be true, I tend to believe them about things that I don’t know, until I can prove them wrong. Let’s just leave it there. All the best.