#health-insurance-premiums

#health-insurance-premiums

This week, the current federal-government shutdown will become the third-longest ever, surpassing a 2013 shutdown that lasted 16 days. There are some significant echoes of the 2013 shutdown, which stemmed from a failed Republican effort to "defund" Obamacare just as that health-reform initiative was being fully implemented. Now the shoe is on the other foot: Democrats are demanding that Obamacare subsidies, which were significantly expanded in 2021, be extended. Without congressional action, upwards of 20 million Americans will see a huge Obamacare premium hike at the end of the year.

As the government shutdown stretches into its ninth day, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is urging House Republicans to return to Washington and negotiate, warning that millions of Americans could soon see their health care premiums double if Congress fails to act. "There certainly is [a way out], and it's an obvious way out," Durbin told Morning Edition. "Have both sides sit down at the table immediately and find ways to deal with the challenge that faces us. Millions of American families are going to see their health care costs double if Congress doesn't act immediately."