The looming double whammy is a critical Minnesota health care challenge that is unfortunately flying under the radar this election season. It should be front and center for voters. While only about 3% of Minnesotans buy coverage on the individual health marketplace, it’s a critical access point for entrepreneurs, consultants, farm families and others who are self-employed.
Extending reinsurance or finding an alternative will be an urgent order of business for legislators, something that voters should be aware of with the entire Minnesota House up for election this fall.
Reauthorizing or, better yet, making permanent the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies should also be a high priority for federal lawmakers early next year. Voters should note that as well, with all U.S. House seats and one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats on the November ballot.
U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., have commendably introduced legislation to make the enhanced subsidies permanent. Minnesota’s two senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are both cosponsors. “We cannot go backwards. Millions of people in this country rely on these tax credits to keep premiums low, and getting rid of them would be a gut punch to people just trying to go to the doctor and stay healthy,“ Smith said this week. “We need to extend these credits and give families peace of mind.”
But the coming election and crowded agenda create discomfiting uncertainty about doing so. Cost is also a concern, with a June 24 Congressional Budget Office analysis concluding that making the subsidy expansion permanent “would increase direct spending by $275 billion, on net, over the 2025-2034 period.“ At the same time, the analysis concludes that with permanent subsidies ”3.4 million more people would have health insurance in each year, on average, over the 2025-2034 period, than under current law.”
Additional MCHP data drives home the need for state and federal action. If the subsidies aren’t extended and if state lawmakers don’t reauthorize the reinsurance program, the insurance group estimates that the combination will result in premium increases upward of 50% for 2026 in Minnesota. “Absent action, as many as ninety-three thousand Minnesotans will find coverage unaffordable and become uninsured in 2026,” according to the RAND study provided by the council.
