Column By John Young
So much to talk about.
— About the Epstein files. Republicans said they were ready to release them once.
— About government censorship. Six million TV viewers and 18 million YouTubers are talking about it after tuning into Jimmy Kimmel’s return.
— About our president’s unhinged and disgraceful speech to the United Nations – if a speech is what one calls it.
— About his ordering Justice to pursue his political enemies. Meanwhile, undercover footage reportedly shows “border czar” buddy Tom Homan taking a $50,000 bribe. And what? Nothing, apparently.
— About one gunfire bloodbath after another, after another.
Talk about all of that, and do not stop. Make noise.
But at this very moment, we need extreme attention – and noise – about something else.
Some 24 million Americans stand to take a crippling hit if Republicans disable the thing that makes the Affordable Care Act affordable.
At risk are crucial tax credits applied to health coverage under the 2010 law and expanded in 2021. They stand to lapse ultimately without reauthorization by Congress.
Without the built-in subsidies, millions of Americans now insured under ACA – Obamacare – could see premiums double and triple.
Combined with the merciless treatment of Medicaid from the Horrible No Good Very Bad Bill – the deepest cuts in Medicaid’s history, we could see a tsunami of people newly uninsured.
The Congressional Budget Office says 2 million could lose their health coverage without the subsidies the ACA made possible for hardworking Americans whose employers don’t provide it.
This is the key concern Democrats want to inject into the discussion: whether Republicans will sit down and negotiate with them as the clock ticks toward a government shutdown.
It’s always interesting to hear Republicans who don’t really buy into crucial communal concerns – public schools, parks, health care, mass transit — come up with reasons for destructive cuts.
Invariably, they will trot out claims of fraud or mismanagement. You know, if fraud is a problem, address it. Don’t penalize millions for a few bad actors.
Beyond the household factor — how a lapse in the Obamacare tax credits will hurt individual families and drive many off the rolls — is the prospect of how it might cause the whole system of health coverage to crater.
As the New York Times reports, “Reductions in the subsidies could have effects that cascade into the overall markets.”
Over the long haul without the boost provided via the subsidies, the Times reports, the number of people covered by ACA eventually “could decline by roughly half.”
That is beyond disastrous.
“People will die,” said House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries. If you harumph at that, for what exactly do you have health coverage? For prestige?
It boggles the mind that any leader would think it would be good for so many of his or her constituents to be thrown an anvil when they are trying just to stay afloat.
In fact, the Times reports, several Republicans in Congress have expressed grave concerns about letting the Obamacare subsidies lapse.
If this happens, we will see the extreme unfairness of Republicans going to the mat to extend tax cuts that benefited the wealthiest Americans and monster corporations, while refusing to extend help to the working poor via Obamacare.
So, those subsidies cost too much, eh? Some $350 billion over 10 years, eh?
What did the extension of those ridiculous and unnecessary tax cuts cost? Try $6 trillion over a decade, trillions added to the national debt.
Yes, let’s talk about Epstein. Let’s talk about government censorship. Let’s talk about how our off-the-rails president has harmed our international standing. Let’s talk about how he uses the tools of power to intimidate people who disagree with him, abusing the court system in the process.
But nothing is more harmful right now than the prospect that millions more Americans will be left in the lurch when medical necessity hits.
Make some noise.
Longtime newspaperman John Young lives in Colorado. Email him at jyoungcolumn@gmail.com.
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
