Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
A whole bunch of things happen that have dominated the
news for the last few days, and I don't need
to remind you what they are. One of the very
big things that was in the news and will certainly
be again because it's going on. Congress is dealing with
it right now this week is the upcoming expiration of
additional temporary Obamacare subsidies that were in one of the
(00:23):
COVID era bills written by Democrats. They put these subsidies
in is temporary. Now they're expiring, and some folks want
them extended, and it's become a pretty big political issue.
Joining us talk about the ins and outs of this
and her position on the issue is Katie Berg, senior
director of Federal Affairs at Blood Cancer United, which is
(00:43):
part of the Keep Americans Covered coalition. So, Katie, welcome
to Kawa. Thanks for being here, Ross, pleasure to bes you. Okay,
we got about five minutes here, so briefly describe what
the issue is like. Add a little detail to what
I just said. What's expiring? Why does it matter?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, So, around two hundred thousand people in the state
of Colorado currently receive these tax credits, these enhanced tax credits,
and what they do is on a monthly basis, they
help lower the monthly premium payment to make quality, comprehensive
coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces more affordable. Many
of the people who are on these exchange plans are
(01:24):
small business owners, entrepreneurs, early retirees, students, amongst millions of
other people across the country, some of whom have serious
and chronic illnesses. So as an organization like Blood Cancer
United weighs the differences between the expiry and the continuation
of these tax credits, we know that for patients and
for people, they're critically important.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So I have some serious concerns about this. And I'm
going to sort of overgeneralize here, but wouldn't it be
nice if everybody could get everything for free? Right? This
is other people's money that we spend with these tax
with these subsidies, and they were designed to be temporary
to begin with. And I believe, but you tell me
(02:06):
if I'm wrong, that they're primarily aimed at what you
might call the upper income section of people who are
eligible for subsidies, which doesn't mean upper income Americans, but
just not the poorest Americans. And I have a lot
of concerns along the lines of maybe it was Ronald
(02:27):
Reagan who said there's nothing more permanent than a temporary
government program.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
That's a good point, Ross. I mean, I'll say here
that it is not something that is a handout, right.
These are hand ups for millions of Americans. And on
top of that, while some people pay very little for
these plans, there are many more who are set to
see their premiums double or even triple. So, for example,
you know, we have an advocate with living with MS
(02:54):
whose family has also been impacted by blood cancer in Maine.
She is right above the Medicaid threshold, which is a
very low amount of annual income close to forty thousand
dollars for a family of four. Both of her children
are also in college and they are supporting them. And
on top of that, she has a very high cost
(03:15):
chronic condition. If the tax credits were going to go away,
even for people who are very low income like her family,
she had to leave her job because her disease had
progressed to a point where she could no longer sustain
her her work. Her premium would increase from around forty
dollars a month to one hundred and sixty dollars a month,
(03:35):
and that's not something that she can afford. And so
she's already thinking about what scans can she miss, Can
she cut her pills in half? Is she okay with
going blind for a while, What can she afford in
terms of her disease progression to make sure that she's
not financially ruining her family? And she already has a
big pile of medical debt. So when we talk about
(03:55):
like using other people's money, everybody contributes, right, it's an insurance.
Insurance means that everybody puts their money in, and you've
spread risk across the risk pool. I think when we
think about people's health, this really isn't a giveaway. It's
ensuring that people can stay in their jobs. It's ensuring
that people can stay with their families. It's more loved
(04:17):
hours with loved ones. And so thinking about the temporariness
of this is yes, they were designed to be temporary,
but we are now on the precipice of coverage losses
in the millions of people across the country. That means
more medical debt, fewer people who are securely housed, people
get their credit run before they apply for a job,
(04:40):
but means they're less likely to be employable in the future.
And so we think about the knock gone effects here.
This is really serious business.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, we've got about one minute left. Let me run
one other thing by you. And this is not exactly
what we're talking about, but very closely related. My understanding
is that when it comes to these massive increases in
hell health insurance premiums, and this would be within the
exchanges and not there are a lot of drivers out
there that are pushing up health insurance premiums and maybe
(05:08):
some real structural issues that Congress should deal with. I
don't think they will very soon, but who knows. And
I thought that at least in some cases that even
if these tax subsidies were extended, a lot of these
folks would still see big increases in their premiums because
the subsidy expiration is only part of it. Is that right? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Affordability continues to be an issue across not only the economy,
but especially in healthcare. There are significant drivers of cost
across the healthcare spectrum. The tax credits are not the
driver of the cost. They are a way to blunt
the trauma from the cost on American families. That said,
Congress does have an opportunity to address these cost drivers,
(05:52):
and there are several good things on the table, like
addressing PBM reforms. Site neutral in medicare is also one
that can help lower the costs for everybody. There are
options on the table, and yet we do not see
Congress pursuing them in a serious way.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, I agree, and I will not. Ie. There was
a little jargon in there for folks with PBMs and
stripe neutral and all that, but those are real issues
that maybe we'll get to talk about another day. Katie
Berg is Senior director of Federal Affairs at Blood Cancer United,
which is part of the Keep Americans Covered coalition. I
can't say you've convinced me, but you're a very good
spokesperson for a year's side of the argument, and you've
(06:32):
certainly giving me something to think about. Thanks so much
for being here.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Pleasure to be here. We just want people to stay healthy,
be healthy, lived through their cancer diagnosis. Thanks ros all right,
all right, me too.
Before.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
A whole bunch of things happen that have dominated the
news for the last few days, and I don't need
to remind you what they are. One of the very
big things that was in the news and will certainly
be again because it's going on. Congress is dealing with
it right now this week is the upcoming expiration of
additional temporary Obamacare subsidies that were in one of the
(00:23):
COVID era bills written by Democrats. They put these subsidies
in is temporary. Now they're expiring, and some folks want
them extended, and it's become a pretty big political issue.
Joining us talk about the ins and outs of this
and her position on the issue is Katie Berg, senior
director of Federal Affairs at Blood Cancer United, which is
(00:43):
part of the Keep Americans Covered coalition. So, Katie, welcome
to Kawa. Thanks for being here, Ross, pleasure to bes you. Okay,
we got about five minutes here, so briefly describe what
the issue is like. Add a little detail to what
I just said. What's expiring? Why does it matter?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, So, around two hundred thousand people in the state
of Colorado currently receive these tax credits, these enhanced tax credits,
and what they do is on a monthly basis, they
help lower the monthly premium payment to make quality, comprehensive
coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces more affordable. Many
of the people who are on these exchange plans are
(01:24):
small business owners, entrepreneurs, early retirees, students, amongst millions of
other people across the country, some of whom have serious
and chronic illnesses. So as an organization like Blood Cancer
United weighs the differences between the expiry and the continuation
of these tax credits, we know that for patients and
for people, they're critically important.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So I have some serious concerns about this. And I'm
going to sort of overgeneralize here, but wouldn't it be
nice if everybody could get everything for free? Right? This
is other people's money that we spend with these tax
with these subsidies, and they were designed to be temporary
to begin with. And I believe, but you tell me
(02:06):
if I'm wrong, that they're primarily aimed at what you
might call the upper income section of people who are
eligible for subsidies, which doesn't mean upper income Americans, but
just not the poorest Americans. And I have a lot
of concerns along the lines of maybe it was Ronald
(02:27):
Reagan who said there's nothing more permanent than a temporary
government program.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
That's a good point, Ross. I mean, I'll say here
that it is not something that is a handout, right.
These are hand ups for millions of Americans. And on
top of that, while some people pay very little for
these plans, there are many more who are set to
see their premiums double or even triple. So, for example,
you know, we have an advocate with living with MS
(02:54):
whose family has also been impacted by blood cancer in Maine.
She is right above the Medicaid threshold, which is a
very low amount of annual income close to forty thousand
dollars for a family of four. Both of her children
are also in college and they are supporting them. And
on top of that, she has a very high cost
(03:15):
chronic condition. If the tax credits were going to go away,
even for people who are very low income like her family,
she had to leave her job because her disease had
progressed to a point where she could no longer sustain
her her work. Her premium would increase from around forty
dollars a month to one hundred and sixty dollars a month,
(03:35):
and that's not something that she can afford. And so
she's already thinking about what scans can she miss, Can
she cut her pills in half? Is she okay with
going blind for a while, What can she afford in
terms of her disease progression to make sure that she's
not financially ruining her family? And she already has a
big pile of medical debt. So when we talk about
(03:55):
like using other people's money, everybody contributes, right, it's an insurance.
Insurance means that everybody puts their money in, and you've
spread risk across the risk pool. I think when we
think about people's health, this really isn't a giveaway. It's
ensuring that people can stay in their jobs. It's ensuring
that people can stay with their families. It's more loved
(04:17):
hours with loved ones. And so thinking about the temporariness
of this is yes, they were designed to be temporary,
but we are now on the precipice of coverage losses
in the millions of people across the country. That means
more medical debt, fewer people who are securely housed, people
get their credit run before they apply for a job,
(04:40):
but means they're less likely to be employable in the future.
And so we think about the knock gone effects here.
This is really serious business.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, we've got about one minute left. Let me run
one other thing by you. And this is not exactly
what we're talking about, but very closely related. My understanding
is that when it comes to these massive increases in
hell health insurance premiums, and this would be within the
exchanges and not there are a lot of drivers out
there that are pushing up health insurance premiums and maybe
(05:08):
some real structural issues that Congress should deal with. I
don't think they will very soon, but who knows. And
I thought that at least in some cases that even
if these tax subsidies were extended, a lot of these
folks would still see big increases in their premiums because
the subsidy expiration is only part of it. Is that right? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Affordability continues to be an issue across not only the economy,
but especially in healthcare. There are significant drivers of cost
across the healthcare spectrum. The tax credits are not the
driver of the cost. They are a way to blunt
the trauma from the cost on American families. That said,
Congress does have an opportunity to address these cost drivers,
(05:52):
and there are several good things on the table, like
addressing PBM reforms. Site neutral in medicare is also one
that can help lower the costs for everybody. There are
options on the table, and yet we do not see
Congress pursuing them in a serious way.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, I agree, and I will not. Ie. There was
a little jargon in there for folks with PBMs and
stripe neutral and all that, but those are real issues
that maybe we'll get to talk about another day. Katie
Berg is Senior director of Federal Affairs at Blood Cancer United,
which is part of the Keep Americans Covered coalition. I
can't say you've convinced me, but you're a very good
spokesperson for a year's side of the argument, and you've
(06:32):
certainly giving me something to think about. Thanks so much
for being here.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Pleasure to be here. We just want people to stay healthy,
be healthy, lived through their cancer diagnosis. Thanks ros all right,
all right, me too.
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
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