'We Are Looking at a Massive Crisis'

"Jaramillo has been insured through the Affordable Care Act since being diagnosed with acute kidney disease in 2022, when she was 39. Expanded subsidies help her afford the coverage-and they will expire at the end of the year unless Congress extends them. Jaramillo told me she has little doubt that her life would begin to unravel without them. Her monthly health-insurance premium would more than double, and the treatment she depends on to manage her vulnerable kidneys and other health issues would become prohibitively expensive."

"The problem for Jaramillo-and for the 22 million other Americans who receive the ACA subsidies in question-is that policy makers in Congress and at the White House also can't figure out what to do. They've been immobilized on the issue for months, consumed by indecision and infighting that led to a record-long government shutdown. There's a growing feeling that not much of anything will happen before the year runs out, which would lead to massive premium hikes for most people on ACA plans."

"A Senate committee convened on Wednesday to find solutions; Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, opened the hearing by asking his colleagues "not to yell at each other" and emphasized the importance of remaining focused on the fast-approaching deadline. "Now, we can push for big ideas, grandiose ideas, on the right or the left," Cassidy, a doctor, said. "But we've got to have a solution for three weeks from now.""

Catalina Jaramillo has been insured through the Affordable Care Act since an acute kidney disease diagnosis in 2022. Expanded subsidies currently lower her premiums and make treatment affordable, but those subsidies will expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts. Without them, her monthly premium would more than double and necessary treatments would become prohibitively expensive. About 22 million Americans receive these ACA subsidies. Policymakers in Congress and the White House remain immobilized by indecision and infighting, and recent hearings produced partisan accusations with little chance of timely legislation before the deadline.

Read at The Atlantic