Fair point on Obamacare’s implementation, forcing people to buy private insurance was a completely different approach than actually breaking the power of insurers, which is why premiums and deductibles kept climbing.
That’s kind of the distinction I was getting at. There’s a difference between criticizing insurers for driving up costs, and choosing a policy that actually solves that problem. A lot of people on the left made argument #1 back then but the policy they got behind in 2010 didn’t match the critique. It protected the private insurance model instead of replacing it.
So it’s not that I’m suddenly buying into “liberal solutions,” it’s more that the diagnosis of the problem (insurers extracting value rather than adding it) turns out to be bipartisan when you strip the branding off it.
What’s different now is that someone is finally talking about attacking the insurance side directly instead of making everyone buy into it.
And a lot of people are going to have a rude awakening when they see what’s coming on ACA premiums. Insurers are requesting double-digit increases for 2026, and if the enhanced premium tax credits expire, many subsidized enrollees could see what they pay more than double on average even before cost-sharing rises kick in. That’s much larger than the typical year-to-year change most people are used to seeing.
I think a lot of people are going to be getting some nasty surprises if they haven't been keeping up with what's been going on. 😕
Fair point on Obamacare’s implementation, forcing people to buy private insurance was a completely different approach than actually breaking the power of insurers, which is why premiums and deductibles kept climbing.
That’s kind of the distinction I was getting at. There’s a difference between criticizing insurers for driving up costs, and choosing a policy that actually solves that problem. A lot of people on the left made argument #1 back then but the policy they got behind in 2010 didn’t match the critique. It protected the private insurance model instead of replacing it.
So it’s not that I’m suddenly buying into “liberal solutions,” it’s more that the diagnosis of the problem (insurers extracting value rather than adding it) turns out to be bipartisan when you strip the branding off it.
What’s different now is that someone is finally talking about attacking the insurance side directly instead of making everyone buy into it.
And a lot of people are going to have a rude awakening when they see what’s coming on ACA premiums. Insurers are requesting double-digit increases for 2026, and if the enhanced premium tax credits expire, many subsidized enrollees could see what they pay more than double on average even before cost-sharing rises kick in. That’s much larger than the typical year-to-year change most people are used to seeing.
I think a lot of people are going to be getting some nasty surprises if they haven't been keeping up with what's been going on. 😕