Nearly 500,000 moderate-income New Yorkers will be dumped from their health insurance plans on 1 July – the first of major coverage losses expected as a result of HR 1, the Republican-led law signed almost exactly one year ago.
The law, sometimes called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” slashed government health spending by $911bn nationally in favor of permanent tax breaks for higher-income families and border security. [...]
The July coverage losses are related to the loss of New York’s “essential plan”, a provision of “Obamacare”. In 2023, the federal government approved a pilot program in New York to cover residents earning 200-250% of the federal poverty level, or up to $39,900 for a single person and $66,625 for a family of three. [...]
Nationally, the law could cause an additional 10 million people to become uninsured over the next decade. Those losses are largely a result of new work requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries, which analysts predict will be very challenging to navigate and expensive to administer. [...]
Nationally, the law could cause an additional 10 million people to become uninsured over the next decade. Those losses are largely a result of new work requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries, which analysts predict will be very challenging to navigate and expensive to administer. [...]
In spite of the disinvestment in health, HR 1 is expected to add $3.4tn to the federal budget deficit by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), largely due to reduced revenue from tax cuts.
“It’s very unlikely that these individuals will be able to afford a marketplace plan. So many of them are going to be caught with no insurance, at least for a period of time – who knows how long,” said Aponte, who expects most newly uninsured people will seek care in the emergency department. [...]
In addition to the cuts imposed by HR 1, the Republican-led Congress allowed special government subsidies to health insurers to lapse at the end of 2025, leading to record-high average deductibles of $3,786 per person according to KFF.
Those rate increases are expected to continue in 2027, with private health insurers already requesting double-digit increases, according to analysts at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms found. In New York, insurers are asking regulators for an average 20.7% rate increase. UnitedHealthcare of New York proposed a 52.1% rate increase.
Analysts say most rate increases are the result of sicker people seeking insurance, and otherwise healthy people foregoing coverage they feel they can’t afford. Those dynamics tend to make insurance more expensive for everyone.
“It’s very unlikely that these individuals will be able to afford a marketplace plan. So many of them are going to be caught with no insurance, at least for a period of time – who knows how long,” said Aponte, who expects most newly uninsured people will seek care in the emergency department. [...]
In addition to the cuts imposed by HR 1, the Republican-led Congress allowed special government subsidies to health insurers to lapse at the end of 2025, leading to record-high average deductibles of $3,786 per person according to KFF.
Those rate increases are expected to continue in 2027, with private health insurers already requesting double-digit increases, according to analysts at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms found. In New York, insurers are asking regulators for an average 20.7% rate increase. UnitedHealthcare of New York proposed a 52.1% rate increase.
Analysts say most rate increases are the result of sicker people seeking insurance, and otherwise healthy people foregoing coverage they feel they can’t afford. Those dynamics tend to make insurance more expensive for everyone.
by Jessica Glenza, The Guardian | Read more:
Image: Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images
[ed. Remember this the next time you vote. Republican priorities. I'm not a single-issue voter, but this time I will be. I'm still pissed. If you're not part of Big Rich and can't contribute large sums of money to political campaigns your concerns Just. Don't. Matter.]
