Patty’s Takes: Congress must act now to support people buying their own health insurance

Washington’s individual health insurance market opens for enrollment tomorrow. Normally this event gets local attention, but today the fate of the federal government’s shut down is hanging on whether the Republican-controlled Congress will continue the enhanced tax credits millions of consumers rely on to afford coverage.

About 300,000 Washingtonians shop for individual health insurance on our Exchange, Washington Healthplanfinder and do so because their employer doesn’t offer coverage, they’re self-employed or they retired early and are too young for Medicare. And nearly 217,000 of these consumers qualified for tax credits last year to help them afford coverage for themselves and their families.

This year we approved 14 health insurers to sell plans across the state and partnered with our Exchange to take every step possible within our authority, including issuing a rule to lessen the impact of premium increases or losing federal funding for tax credits on policyholders.

This rule is why some people shopping on the Exchange may find a lower cost/higher benefit plan this year or why some people may see a larger tax credit.

I know these actions are not enough and many people are now deciding if they can afford to keep coverage this year.

Every year, health insurers request rate changes for their plans in the individual market. This year, we approved a 21% rate increase, and I know that news hit consumers hard. Unfortunately, our authority over rate changes health insurers request is very limited. If they can show how an increase is actuarially justified, we’re required by state law to accept the change.

The enhanced tax credits were established in 2021 to help people afford insurance and were extended to 2025 a year later. The data tells us that the enhanced tax credits have been quite successful at increasing access to insurance — and helped bring Washington’s uninsured rate down to a historic low of only 4.8%. That benefits everyone. Unfortunately, if Congress does not act now, they will expire at the end of the year.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I’ve joined members of our Congressional delegation over the last several weeks, making the case for immediate extension of these enhanced tax credits and I will continue to do so. I’ve laid out what’s at stake: An estimated 80,000 people will likely go without health insurance if Congress does not take immediate action. And this will hit older people and our rural communities harder.

Our country’s health insurance system is far from perfect, and the Affordable Care Act is not the answer to all its problems. But it was a critical first step in a long road of reforms needed and it increased access to coverage for roughly 900,000 people in Washington. It should be strengthened, not destroyed.

Health care is very personal to me and it’s why I ran for this office. Just like many of you, I have my own story of fighting an insurance denial that put my family’s health at risk. It’s why I believe health care is a human right. And I don’t believe we should be using people and their families’ health and financial stability as political pawns.

If you’re lucky enough to have insurance through your job, like I do, and like millions of Americans do (including members of Congress and the President), you cannot imagine the fear that people face when their premiums rise out of reach, or they put off getting care, worrying about getting one bad diagnosis that forces them into bankruptcy.

It’s not too late, but it’s close.

Knowing what’s a stake and failing to act is a dereliction of the highest duty of an elected official and of a body elected to do the peoples’ business. Americans deserve so much more.