If Donald Trump wins the White House, he is less likely to support extending tax credits for Americans … [+]
If Donald Trump wins the White House, he is less likely to support renewing tax credits for Americans to buy health insurance, and that will hit older adults who buy individual Obamacare coverage the hardest. according to a new study.
There have been record enrollments for individual coverage purchased on exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, in part because tax credits have continued and expanded to more Americans under the Biden-Harris administration. And that has ensured that this reporting, also known as Obamacare, has reached a record number of registrations more than 20 million Americans this year.
But Trump, the Republican party’s candidate for president, has done just that said he wants to get rid of the ACA and also said more recently it is “too expensive” by never offering solutions on how he could improve or replace the landmark legislation that President Obama signed into law in 2010. Meanwhile, Republican members of Congress have said they would try to reduce or end tax creditsthat expire next year.
The issue of Trump’s opposition to the Affordable Care Act and GOP disdain for expanding health care coverage could arise during Tuesday night’s presidential debate between the former Republican president and the Democratic candidate for president, Vice President Kamala Harris, who supports the ACA and increases subsidies.
The so-called “enhanced premium tax credits” have reduced monthly premium payments for millions of individuals and families since 2021.
A new report fAccording to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Urban Institute, Americans with annual incomes of about $60,000 or more say, “People over 50 will see the greatest cost savings from health care tax credits that lower monthly payments for consumers.”
“The tax credits reduced average out-of-pocket premium payments by 60% for 64-year-olds and 57% for 60-year-olds,” the Urban Institute said in an accompanying statement. their report, which was released Monday. “Conversely, tax credits reduced payments for 30-year-olds by only 3%.”
Although Harris generally has a small lead among Americans in most national polls, Trump is doing slightly better among people over 50. As an example: an analysis earlier this week produced by ABC News by Longer Research Associates shows that Trump has “52% support among all 50 to 64-year-olds (his best age group) and 56% among likely voters in this group.”
So there are likely Republicans among his supporters who are at risk of being hit with higher health insurance premiums when the enhanced tax credits expire at the end of 2025. The appropriations were originally approved by the then Democratic-controlled Congress as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. , which was signed into law by President Biden in 2021. Not a single Republican voted in favor the American Rescue Plan Act.
“Without the tax credits, an average 60-year-old with an annual income of about $60,000 would have to spend 20% of his annual income on health insurance premiums,” the Urban Institute said. “A 60-year-old with an individual income of just over $75,000 would have to spend 16% of his income on premiums.”
Losing the tax breaks could force some Americans to drop coverage altogether, researchers at the Urban Institute said. “If the enhanced credits expire after 2025, many Marketplace participants, especially older adults and people in high-cost states, would face extremely high out-of-pocket premiums, forcing many to lose coverage,” Jessica Banthinsenior fellow at the Urban Institute, in a statement accompanying the report.
The enhanced premium tax credits have reduced monthly premium payments for “millions of individuals and families since 2021,” according to the Urban Institute.
The tax credits help the elderly the most. “30-year-olds saw an average credit of $13 per month, but 64-year-olds saw an average credit of $654 per month,” data from the Urban Institute shows.
“Care needs increase with age, and so does the importance of the improved premium tax credits,” he says Katherine Hempsteadsenior policy advisor at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Without these credits, many older adults would have to spend an unacceptably large share of their income on premiums, resulting in difficult trade-offs between health care and other necessities such as food and housing. It is clear that tax breaks provide significant financial relief to older adults, and any rollback would impose a significant burden.”