(The Center Square) – Taxpayers are on the hook for more than $400 billion through expanded subsidies under an emergency or temporary basis tied to the Affordable Care Act, says a North Carolina congressman.
U.S. Rep. Dr. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., says benchmark premiums are up 75% since 2019, one-third of spending goes to six-figure households, and 90% of enrollees still get subsidies if the expiration happens as intended Dec. 31.
Murphy says enrollment of individuals who file few or no claims makes the risk pool appear healthier, artificially driving down premiums and creating a windfall for insurers.
“These were temporary measures put in by Democrats through the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act during COVID to supposedly help people get more health insurance,” Murphy said. “Now remember, close to 170 million Americans are already covered by their company plans, so those people are out of this equation. Seventy million people are on Medicaid, so those people are out of this equation. It is the rest of those people, a smaller number of individuals, that are on the exchange that have relation to this.”
Murphy said the initiative to put in the temporary credits was by Democrats. In the unprecedented sixth week of a government shutdown, he says the question is should they expire, should there be some debate, or should they continue?
“The enrollment of individuals that filed no claims during this entire period has shown us that anywhere from 6 to 12 million individuals are on these plans fraudulently,” Murphy said. “They haven’t enrolled. They haven’t made any claims whatsoever, and so basically, the checks are going from the federal government – your taxpayer dollars – are doing directly from the federal government to insurance companies and for their profit margin. That’s a huge number.”
Health care, economist Ricardo Marto at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis wrote earlier this year, is among the top four industries hitting all-time highs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At UnitedHealth Group, a cyberattack limited 2024 net profit to $14.4 billion. It was $22.4 billion in 2023, $20.6 billion in 2022, $17.3 billion in 2021 and $15.4 billion in 2020. It is No. 1 in health insurance. Elevance Health ($6 billion) and CVS Health known also as Aetna ($4.6 billion) round out the top three for 2024.
“Since 2019, premiums by insurance companies have gone up 75%,” Murphy said. “Look at their profits at the same period of time. Look at their profits since 2014. And also remember, that during these enhanced premium tax credits, Democrats took off the lid of limits for people receiving them.”
That means individuals who make up to $600,000 in their family are eligible.
“If they were to go away, over 90% of people who are involved in the exchange would still get the subsidies, and the low-income individuals would keep 95% of their subsidies,” Murphy said. “So again, if this were to go away completely, the infinite majority of individuals would not be affected.”
