The midterms have looked pretty dismal for a while and now they will have to deal with Obamacare premium increases just before the midterm elections. With gas prices and runaway inflation, it means that some people will not be able to afford the premiums as the subsidies end at the end of the year. There are thirteen million Obamacare customers that will see the huge COLLAPSE and no doubt the Democrats will try to pass new subsidies before the election.
Larry Levitt, a health policy expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation said:
“Right before the election, people would get notices of big premium increases, and that will certainly not reflect well on Democrats.”
Oh, really? What gave you the first clue, Sherlock?
The Democrats could be swimming upstream in trying to extend subsidies. Since its inception, Obamacare has been rife with problems. In order to pass extensions on the subsidy, the Democrats would have to vote a straight party line and then pass it under reconciliation. But, Joe Manchin has signaled that he is not too keen on extending the subsidies. Without Manchin, the Democrats would need to get at least one Republican vote in order to avoid a filibuster situation.
There are at least 26 vulnerable Democrats in the midterm election and that could be higher by election day, and with all of the other things working against them and the notices of the increases going out just before people go to the polls, this could be the straw that breaks the donkey’s back.
Without any Republican support, extending the subsidies would require a party-line vote via the reconciliation process to bypass a GOP filibuster in the Senate. But moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has already shown little appetite for doing so.
Obamacare has been rife with problems ever since it was rushed through Congress and signed into law in 2010. Barack Obama made multiple unconstitutional “fixes” to the legislation via executive action, and Joe Biden has as well.
Americans are already paying more at the pump and at the grocery store. A spike in insurance premiums would make their already dire situation catastrophic.
