Lawmakers fear President Donald Trump’s budget is going to dramatically increase Pennsylvania’s uninsured rate.
Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who purchase their health care individually may see up to a 19% increase in their premiums next year thanks to Republicans in Congress failing to extend health care marketplace tax credits in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
The Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, which were passed under the Bide administration and helped keep health care premiums affordable for individuals, are set to expire at the end of the year.
“Because the tax credits were not extended, that means that the funds that were there to both reduce costs and reduce the out-of-pocket costs for subscribers have gone away. Instead, [Republicans] chose to give tax cuts to billionaires,” State Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-Allegheny) told The Keystone in an interview.
Over 500,000 Pennsylvanians are expected to lose coverage thanks to Trump’s budget.
Democrats warn that 310,000 Pennsylvanians will lose their health care due to the $1 trillion cut to Medicaid while an additional 200,000 residents will lose coverage because of the changes made to “Pennie,” the commonwealth’s official health care marketplace created after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Trump’s budget will make it harder for the roughly 500,000 Pennsylvanians who purchase their health care through Pennie. These changes include shortening the open enrollment period by one month, ending automatic reenrollments for customers at the end of the year and requiring customers to pay the full cost of their premiums until their incomes are verified.
“It’s expected that next year we’re gonna see at least 200,000 of that half million on Pennie decide that they’re gonna do without insurance, and over the next 10 years with the Medicaid cuts, we can expect to see another 300,000 lose insurance.” Venkat said.
“That’s half a million Pennsylvanians, at least, who are gonna be without insurance out of about 12.5 or 13 million Pennsylvanians. We’re going to see a sharp increase in the uninsured rate.”
