Make no mistake: allowing the enhanced Affordable Care Act (often called Obamacare) premium tax credits to expire amounts to a middle-class tax increase. These credits are part of the tax code, just as the 2017 tax
cuts were. And like those cuts, the tax credits are set to expire unless renewed or made permanent by
Congress. Making the 2017 tax cuts permanent while letting these tax credits expire reeks of favoritism, not
the partisan kind, but the kind that favors the wealthiest few.
Letting the credits expire punishes getting ahead and self-reliance. Savings slow to a trickle or disappear
outright. Some folks will spend down the nest egg they built over a lifetime just to stay insured. Others are
simply hoping they can make it to 65 without a major medical hit.
Letting the enhanced credits expire doesn’t strengthen self-reliance and it doesn’t help people keep more of
what they earn. It imperils self-reliance and leaves folks worrying about the future.
Most Georgians—Democrat, Republican, and Independent alike—don’t realize what it actually means when
the enhanced premium tax credits expire. Few know what 400 percent of the federal poverty level represents
or why it’s called a cliff. Fewer still remember that adults too young for Medicare can be charged up to three
times what younger people pay. People will rediscover these facts when they try to renew coverage next fall,
and it will feel like a gut punch every month.
Here’s one example. A 60-year-old couple in Columbia County with an adjusted gross income of $87,000 will
pay about $795 a month for a Silver PPO plan in 2025. The federal government covers the remaining $1,587.
In 2026, that same plan costs $3,202 a month, and Washington pays nothing. For our couple, that’s a
premium that jumps by more than 300 percent. But look at the underlying number: the total premium in 2025
was $2,382. The new premium in 2026 is 34 percent higher.
What on earth is going on? A $3,202 monthly payment would cover the mortgage on a $500,000 house. That
premium is 44 percent of our couple’s annual income.
Who would look at these numbers and think this is okay?
The tax credits are not the problem. The problem is the underlying cost of healthcare. Our system is broken,
and unaffordable insurance is just the symptom average families can’t ignore.
So where do we begin?
Start by extending, or making permanent, the enhanced tax credits, because letting them expire is not a
serious option. Then use the breathing room to confront the real issue: a healthcare system whose costs
have spiraled out of reach not only for ordinary Americans, but for Georgia and for the nation as well.
John Morris, Evans, Ga.
John Morris, a longtime Georgia resident, is a software developer with degrees in electrical engineering, computer science, and public policy.
