“Small-business owners are among those who stand to lose the most should Congress let the additional, generous federal subsidies put in place during the covid-19 pandemic lapse.”
Farmers, Barbers, and GOP Lawmakers Grapple With the Fate of ACA Tax Credits
John Cleveland is ready to pay a lot more for his health insurance next year.
He hasn’t forgotten the pile of hospital bills that awaited him after he had a seizure while tending to customers in his Austin, Texas, barbershop four years ago. Once doctors hurriedly removed the dangerous tumor growing on his brain, a weeklong hospital stay, months of therapy, and nearly $250,000 worth of medical expenses followed.
The coverage he has purchased for years through the Affordable Care Act marketplace covered most of those bills.
“That saved my ass,” said Cleveland, who owns three barbershops across the city.
Even with Cleveland’s monthly premiums expected to soar next year — from $560 to about $682 — he will still sign up for a plan that requires him to shell out $70 if he sees a doctor and 50% of the cost for any emergency room visits. Still, Cleveland is most worried about some of his employees, who might risk going without insurance once they see the high prices.
Small-business owners are among those who stand to lose the most should Congress let the additional, generous federal subsidies put in place during the covid-19 pandemic lapse. The looming change threatens not only their own coverage but also that of their employees, who often depend on marketplace coverage.
Whether to extend the enhanced ACA subsidies that cost taxpayers billions of dollars yearly poses a serious political conundrum for Republicans. After years of unified opposition to Obamacare, the party now faces pressure from one of its most loyal constituencies, small-business owners, who will bear the brunt of rising premiums if the subsidies disappear.
Most of the roughly 20 employees who work on Justin Miller’s 113-year-old family fruit farm in rural Northern California purchase coverage through the Obamacare marketplace.
He’s agonizing over what it could mean if health insurance through the marketplace becomes unaffordable for his employees. He fears they might consider leaving his farm for a job that comes with health coverage.
“Being a small-business owner, especially in a field like ours, where it is tough work and we really understand how hard everybody works, we have to look everybody in the eyes every day,” Miller said. “Knowing that they’re going to have to pay $4,000 or $5,000 more a year to stay on their insurance is a tough pill to swallow.”
Miller says he already pays a minimum wage of $22.50 and provides sick leave, vacation, retirement, and employee housing benefits.
Adding health insurance for his employees, he said, would be too costly to keep his farm in business.
GOP Pollsters Issue ACA Caution
About half of the 24 million people enrolled in Obamacare coverage are, or are employed by, small-business owners — a group that is more likely to vote Republican and overwhelmingly backed President Donald Trump in last year’s election. Farmers, dentists, real estate agents, and chiropractors are among the professions most represented among enrollees.
Even Trump’s own pollsters have found deep support for the Obamacare subsidies, warning that failing to extend them could cost Republicans in next year’s midterms.
A poll conducted last month by Republican pollster John McLaughlin found that a majority of independent voters would be less likely to vote for politicians who voted to let the enhanced tax credits expire.
Given that “approximately 4 million” people would lose coverage and premiums would “skyrocket by an average of 75%,” the poll also concluded that: “A candidate for congress who let the healthcare tax cuts expire would also be vulnerable to more pointed messages.”
[email protected], @AmandaSeitz
This story also ran on Fortune.
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