The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: Obamacare Subsidy Scare

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: Obamacare Subsidy Scare

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board refutes Democrats' claims that failing to extend pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies would cause significant coverage loss and harm to enrollees. The board points to a new Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report showing that many subsidy recipients qualify for employer-sponsored health coverage but instead choose to enroll in heavily subsidized Obamacare plans. "Don't believe the Democrats' Obamacare scare," says the board.

From the Wall Street Journal:

"If you haven't heard, cancer patients and children will die if Republicans don't agree to extend pandemic-era sweetened ObamaCare subsidies in return for keeping the government open. Or so Democrats claim. But a report Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests many Americans receiving the subsidies could get employer coverage.

The annual BLS survey of employer-sponsored benefits shows that the share of workers with access to medical benefits increased to 74% this year from 71% in 2019. That's good news. Yet curiously, the share of workers who participate in employer medical plans among those with access to them-i.e., the take-up rate-has fallen to 65% from 73%.

The take-up rate has fallen more among part-time workers (to 44% from 56%) and employees whose wages are in the bottom 25% (49% from 61%) and 10% (34% from 57%) of the income spectrum. Why would increasing numbers of lower-income workers reject employer-sponsored coverage? Perhaps because they can now get ObamaCare plans at no cost.

The Inflation Reduction Act's enhanced subsidies enable Americans who earn between 100% and 150% of the poverty line-$15,650 and $23,475 for an individual-to qualify for zero-premium health coverage and reduced deductibles. Workers typically have to pay deductibles and 20% of their premiums in employer plans.

Workers aren't supposed to receive Obamacare subsidies if they have access to "affordable" coverage through their employers, but this rule is barely enforced. The Biden team also deemed many employer-sponsored family plans not "affordable," as they worked to get more Americans on government insurance.

But the BLS report shows that many workers could get employer coverage if the enhanced subsidies lapse at the end of the year, which would save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Don't believe the Democrats' Obamacare scare."

BACKGROUND

The BLS report reveals that despite an increasing share of workers having access to employer health plans, fewer people are enrolling. This is especially prevalent among lower-wage and part-time workers. This trend appears linked to the availability of generous, zero-premium Obamacare plans under COVID-era enhanced subsidies.

Although current law prohibits subsidies for those with access to affordable employer coverage, enforcement is weak, and many employer plans were deemed "unaffordable" by the Biden Administration, in an effort to expand government coverage. Once again, Democrats are seeking to undermine high-quality, free market employer-sponsored health care by spending hundreds of billions in government subsidies to prop up a failing, fraud-ridden Obamacare market.