How the Shutdown Could Break Your Insurance

The ongoing government shutdown isn’t about protecting taxpayers from covering immigrant healthcare, it’s about dismantling affordable coverage for everyone else. By blaming Democrats and pushing false claims about federal spending, Republican leaders are laying the groundwork to roll back key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. If their plan moves forward, premium tax credits will vanish, deductibles will rise, and millions of working families could see their health insurance costs soar. What they call reform is really a reshuffle one that breaks the rules of government neutrality and the budgets of the American people.

#GovernmentShutdown #HealthInsurance #AffordableCareAct #HatchAct #PolicyImpact

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Hello andwelcome to theVlogging Pod.
As the government shutdown continues,
Republican leadership has made it very
clear where they're placing the blame. Even
through official government phone lines
and agency website,messages have
gone outclaiming thatDemocrats are

(00:24):
responsibleand that thehead of the
administration,as they put it,
cares aboutthe Americanpeople. But
what's beingleft out isthat using
taxpayer-fundedplatforms topromote
partisan blameis not only
unethical, itmay violate
the Hatch Act,a law meant to
prevent theuse ofgovernment

(00:46):
offices forpolitical
propaganda. Sowhile agencies
point fingers,the truthbehind this
shutdown haslittle to dowith Democrats
and everythingto do withinsurance,
affordability,And control.
The fightcenters aroundAffordable
Care Act,whichRepublicansstill prefer

(01:07):
to callObamacare. They claim the
shutdown isnecessary tostop federal
funds fromgoing toundocumented
immigrants,even thoughthat claim has
been debunkedrepeatedly.
Under currentlaw,undocumentedimmigrants
cannot receiveACA or
Medicaidcoverage. Not

(01:27):
now, not ever. Except for
extremelylimitedemergency
medical care. In fact, the
actual numberof immigrantswho might
receive helpthrough anyfederal
insurancesystem isstatistically
insignificant. Less than 1/10
of 1%, or
about 0.08%

(01:49):
of totalenrollees. That hasn't
changed sincethe law's
inception. So
what really isat stake?The
answer is muchsimpler andfar more
personal. Ifthe Republicanplan moves
forward withthe Senatereturns tosession,
millions ofAmericanscould seetheir health
insurancepremiumsskyrocket.

(02:11):
Enhancedpremium taxcredits thathave kept
monthly costsmanageable forworking and
middle classfamilies areset to expire.
Without them,those samefamilies could
see theirbills jump by
75% or more,with somestates facing
double ortriple digit
increases. Theproposed

(02:31):
legislationpackage underthe name like
Big BeautifulBill Act would
also scale. more backmarketplace
subsidies andraisedeductibles,
especially forolderAmericans,
many of whomcould pay
1,000 or more
per year justto keep theircurrent plan.

(02:52):
Even if theshutdown ends,the damage
lingers. Insuranceshave already
filed for nextyear's ratehikes with
medianincreasesaround 15%,
and that'sbefore anypolicy change
is finalized. If federal
subsidiesvanish or costsharing
protectionsare rolledback, every

(03:13):
insurancemarket in thecountry,private,
public, oremployer base,
will fill theripple. When
fewer peoplecan affordcoverage,healthier
enrollees tendto drop out,
leaving sickerand moreexpensivepatients in
the system. Thatimbalance,
known as deathspiral, pushes
premiums upeven further. for everyone

(03:35):
left behind. So when
officials saythis shutdownis about
protectingAmericans from
paying theillegalinsurances,that's not
only false,
it's cover. Ithides a plan
that couldmake nearlyevery working
family paymore for basichealthcare
whiledismantlingone of the few

(03:57):
system thatactually helpslower costs.
And when thosesame officialsuse government
channels topoint blame,they're not
just spinningpolitics,they'rebreaking very
laws meant tokeep ourinstitutions
neutral, allwhile thepeople footing
the bill arethe ones about
to lose the
most. Today's

(04:20):
sources comefrom How willthe 2025
budgetreconciliation
affect ACA,Medicaid and
uninsured rate
from KFF?Older
adults withACA coveragewould face
steep premiumhikes underHouseRepublicans.
One BigBeautiful BillAct from the
Center forAmericanProgress.

(04:41):
Proposed ACAmarketplacerule would
raisehealthcarecosts formillions from
the center ofbudget andpolicypriorities.
Does agencymessagingblameDemocrats for
the shutdownviolate theHatch Act from
governorexecutive?
Fact-checkingon Medicaidcoverage for
immigrants,governmentshutdownedition from

(05:02):
GeorgetownUniversityCenter forChildren and
Families. Thank you for
listening. Until next
time, bye-bye. For now.