Deficit Deal Trigger for Dems? Funding for Health Care Exchanges

[amborin]

Exchange Subsidies Threatened; Part of the Automatic Trigger in the Debt Limit Deal


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......And half of the automatic cuts would hit the Pentagon. What’s the forcing mechanism for the left?

Turns out, that would be the exchange subsidies from the Affordable Care Act:

The new health care law will make insurance more affordable by providing subsidies to people who buy insurance on their own. And these subsidies come in two forms. There are tax credits, which people can use to offset the cost of their premiums. And there are subsidies to defray cost-sharing: In other words, the government will help reduce people’s out-of-pocket costs. Under the debt ceiling deal, the tax credits are exempt from automatic reductions, because they are a tax credit and not a form of spending.

But, as both administration and congressional sources are confirming, the cost-sharing subsidies are not exempt. They will decline. And that’s worrisome because the subsidies were already pretty low. In fact, many of us were hoping that, over time, lawmakers would see fit to raise them rather than reduce them. I can’t be sure how much the subsidies would decline, as nobody I’ve contacted seems to have run the numbers yet. And I’m not even positive how reduced subsidies would translate into reduced protection, since technically the subsidies go directly to the insurers. (I don’t even want speculate about the impact until I know more. I’ll update this item when I do.)

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http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/08/03/exchange-subsidies-threatened-part-of-the-automatic-trigger-in-the-debt-limit-deal/

[nashville_brook]

1. k and R!