In a social media post, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson criticized Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, for wrongly saying that Affordable Care Act premiums would at least double for “over 20 million Americans” if enhanced subsidies expire. They would more than double on average, not for all of those 20 million people. Johnson glossed over the higher out-of-pocket premiums, saying that the “subsidies will likely increase, not decrease.”
The Wisconsin senator essentially invited us to weigh in on this, writing, “Calling all fact checkers!” in his Nov. 11 post on X. We’ll explain what Sanders got wrong and what Johnson left out about the enhanced tax credits, which are due to expire at the end of the year.
Democrats wanted an extension of the subsidies to be part of legislation to continue funding the federal government, but Republicans rejected that. As part of a Senate deal that ended the government shutdown this month, the Senate will hold a vote in December on those boosted subsidies.
As we’ve explained before, the ACA provided subsidies for people buying their own insurance on the ACA marketplaces if they earn between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (the starting point is 138% in states that adopted the Medicaid expansion). The poverty level for this year is $15,650 for an individual or $32,150 for a family of four. In 2021, the subsidies were expanded as part of pandemic relief legislation and later extended through the end of 2025.
The enhancement increased financial help by changing the percentage of income people have to pay toward premiums before the subsidies kick in, and it eliminated the 400% income cap. Those earning above that can get subsidies if premiums cost more than 8.5% of their income. The vast majority, 92%, of the 24.3 million ACA enrollees receive subsidies, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
