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This is a pretty privileged take. There are a lot of people who are never going to find a job with an expensive employer provided health plan.


So doesn't that then leave Medicare/Medicaid/ACA Exchange plans with their significant subsidies?

To anchor the ACA discussion, a calculator is showing someone making $26K at McDonald's would be paying $23 a month in premiums after subsidies (about 1% of their household income). They'll have copays, sure, but there is an OOP max; and while $23 a month isn't nothing at that income level, it's an important part of the budget IMO.


The "One Big Beautiful Bill" (OBBB) is changing some of that. It will be $23 a month after their application of the tax credits is approved.

Currently you get the credits immediately and if it turns out they are too high or too low that is taken care of next year when you do your taxes.

With the change in the OBBB you will have to pay the full amount while the application for tax credits is being verified.

Also currently if you are happy with your current plan you don't have to do anything to reenroll for the next year. The marketplace can automatically enroll you in the same plan next year (or an equivalent one if your insurance company has changed their offerings). The marketplace can automatically get your tax information and handle getting you set up for the tax credits for the next year.

The OBBB is changing that so that every year you have to reapply for the tax credit, and so potentially each year you might have to pay the full amount while that is being verified.

The net result of the OBBB will be about 1/3 of the people currently on ACA not being able to remain on it [1].

[1] https://www.aha.org/fact-sheets/2025-06-05-fact-sheet-one-bi...


Yes, this is very true. I do think part of the problem is people aren't taught about this and adding it in to their budget. It's not nothing, but even for low wage earners it's the cost of a few energy drinks or maybe forgoing the newest iPhone/Samsung.




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