Millions of Americans are worried over surge in healthcare costs — and it depends on one key decision
The holiday may have brought much-needed joy for Americans, but the rising cost of living has cast a shadow over festivities. When 2025 comes to an end, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies will come to an end. As a result, healthcare for thousands of Americans will hardly be affordable. The only way this can be stopped is if Congress takes a vote and extends ACA subsidies on a temporary basis. However, as a unanimous decision has not been reached yet, some Americans have voiced their concerns.
The problem is that Congress does not even seem to have the urgency to get this matter resolved anytime soon. According to a CNN report, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Monday that he would not commit to a vote on a GOP healthcare proposal just yet. Democrats will get a Senate vote on the matter, but it is unlikely that they will get the result in their favor.
Republicans had agreed to the vote as Democrats had made it one of their demands for the government shutdown to be lifted earlier this year. They seek a three-year extension of ACA subsidies without any changes. However, as most Republicans are against the proposal, it is unlikely to pass. Some, however, are worried that the rising cost of healthcare would adversely affect their chances in the midterm elections.
“We’re going to have a conversation tomorrow with our members and kind of decide the path forward. We could – we have some good options. But this, to me, is on the Democrats’ part, is a messaging exercise, a political messaging exercise. I don’t think they’re serious about wanting to do a deal yet,” Thune said. As the bureaucrats debate on what is wrong and right, at the end of the day, it is the common people who will have to bear the brunt.
Representative image of an American requiring healthcare services. (Image source: Getty Images | Photo by Justin Sullivan)NPR spoke to several Americans about the matter, and the one consensus was concern over the cost of healthcare. Virginia native Chris O’Donnell said that he was paying more than $2,000 per month in healthcare premiums. “I will be pleasantly surprised if Congress does anything to help. I'm not expecting it. I'm moving forward with the assumption that my premiums next year are going to be $2,155 a month,” he said.
Georgia native Hannah Pniewski was of a similar opinion. “We had thoughts in mind for next year, to, like, buy a house, start a family. And now, with the subsidies going away and our insurance practically doubling, we're just really questioning what exactly we can afford,” she claimed.
Eric Kraus of New Jersey, who recently became a father, said that he would forgo health insurance for the year. “I just had a child. And maybe, having that child, if I had to pay the full $40,000 of the hospital bill, would I see maybe a couple thousand dollars in benefit from having health insurance, which is ridiculous,” he said.
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