Good article on America taking a nice, snuggly nap on the eve of 10s of millions losing healthcare coverage

[Miles Archer]

Once again, I have to step OUTSIDE OF DU, OUTSIDE of MY immediate, personal circle of friends, where I AM NOT SEEING the kind of ALARM and OUTRAGE that should follow Republicans off on holiday break with just a few days to go before their dream of boning TENS OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS, forcing them to either pay double or triple premiums, or GIVE UP their healthcare. And this will affect the rates of EVERY AMERICAN, because the health industry is NOT GOING TO SIMPLY ABSORB THOSE LOSSES.

I know DU "gets it." I know my friends "get it" because I read their posts daily on Facebook.

America as a whole? Not so much. "YOU TELL 'EM I'M COMIN', and HELL'S COMIN' WITH ME." Maybe it's the same Americans who thought "TRUMP will ONLY hurt the people I hate, but he LOVES me and would NEVER hurt me. He FOUGHT for me after he got a teensy weensy itsy bitsy paper cut on his ear in Butler, PA!"

Thanks to Trump, a dark fate awaits us — but it can be a GOP electoral death knell too
Ray Richmond
December 27, 2025 5:30AM ET

You know how you’ve been listening to all the chatter about the expiring of the Affordable Care Act premium subsidies on Dec. 31 with about 25 percent of your attention? Well, it may be time to engage the other 75 percent.

Brace yourself, because this thing really is about to happen, devastating a giant swath of Americans.

It isn’t just some amorphous issue afflicting the lower class. No, ladies and gentlemen, it’s about to hit home for you too. The result of this expiration isn’t going to be abstract, gradual, or theoretical. It will instead be immediate, personal, and devastating for the millions who will be losing their health insurance almost overnight and millions more whose premiums will skyrocket.

That last part is where you probably come in.

See, premiums are going to rise for a huge swath of the country, not just subsidy recipients. It’s a death spiral effect. Healthier people drop their coverage first. Sicker people remain enrolled. Insurers raise their premiums to cover the higher average costs. More people drop coverage. The cycle repeats.

https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/health-care-subsidy/

[Sedona]

1. Paywall 😒

[Linda ladeewolf]

7. Use the archived link.

https://archive.ph/g8yBH

[Sedona]

8. Thank you!

[Boomerproud]

2. Trump wouldn't be president if the country wasn't napping.

nt

[tirebiter]

3. Time to hit the streets.

Where’s Indivisible?

[Raftergirl]

4. People who haven't paying attention are going to be blindsided. Not much more any of us can do.

Maybe the MAGAs will actually have to step up and start protesting and calling their MAGA Reps.

[dalton99a]

6. +1. Many are on auto-renew and auto-draft.

[dalton99a]

5. The writer teaches at John Eastman's school

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

[ToxMarz]

9. I don't really know anything about Ray Richmond but Chapman isn't John Eastman's school

Eastman was a professor there and Dean of Law college I believe, but they seperated with him after his Jan 6 participation. Not defending them as an instituition, maybe there is something to criticize with the school, but they weren't behind or supporting of what he did. Many of the MAGAt elite came from backgrounds that surprised everyone that they would be involved.

[thesquanderer]

10. I think they should be extended, but I don't believe the "sky is falling" scenarios.

If the enhanced ACA subsidies are not renewed, things go back to the way they were in 2020. Biden's enhanced subsidies were originally only supposed to be for 2021 and 2022, basically as a response to covid, then he got them extended through 2025. But this is the problem that comes back to bite both parties... something which passes (esp. with some amount of bipartisan support) because it's put forth as temporary then turns into something their advocates say must be made permanent. On our side, now it's these health care subsidies. For the other side, we see "temporary" tax cuts that they always want to extend.

What surprises me is why people ever *expect* that temporary things will be permanent, at least without a fight. There's a reason they were passed as temporary in the first place, it's always going to be a struggle to perpetuate them. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't. I'm not saying it's not worth fighting for, but I think it's worth remembering the context, that originally these enhanced subsidies were only supposed to be for 2 years to begin with. It's no surprise that Republicans are largely against them, they never liked the ACA to begin with. (Luckily there are a handful that still actually seem somewhat responsive to their constituents!)

Personally, as a long term solution, I see increased subsidies still a halfway measure, doubling down on a system we'd be better off transitioning out of. I think the real goal should still be some variation of the "public option" or "medicare for all" plans that have been floated. Enhanced subsidies are worthwhile for a few years at the moment, and I hope we get them, but if we get a Dem president and a Dem congress in 2028, I hope we can work toward something better than a system that is still burdened with an obligation to for-profit middlemen between you and your health care.