The Truth About Obamacare Subsidies in the Government Shutdown Battle

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Democrats are screaming “protect healthcare!”—but the brawl is over juiced Obamacare subsidies that never went away after COVID. In this episode:

• How Biden supercharged subsidies and why both parties use fake “expiration dates” as an accounting gimmick
• Subsidies up to 400% of the poverty line—and what that does to premiums and politics
• The eye-popping math: ~$3.45/week at 100% FPL (taxpayers cover ~98%) and ~$52/week at 250% FPL (taxpayers cover ~⅔)
• Why 40% of fully subsidized enrollees had zero claims—insurers still get paid
• Workers ditching employer plans for free/cheap exchange plans—and the $450B price tag to extend this for a decade

 This isn’t “protecting healthcare.” It’s locking in massive subsidies, masking costs, and sending you the bill while our broken system gets even worse.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it will have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Spid Obamacare subsidies. I'm gonna break down what this big
fight is. Big fight again. You're seeing all the Democrats
out there protect healthcare per attack. Yea, it reminds me
of that. Remember the ladies in Back to the Future.
Remember that at the beginning of the movie Save the

(00:37):
Clock Tower. Yeah, protect Obamacare, protect Obamacare subsidies one. Anyway,
they're freaking out and there's oh my god, people's Obamacare
Obambacare payments are going to go Their premiums are gonna
go up, and my premiums go up every year. They're

(01:03):
gonna go up again. But their premiums are going up.
That's because healthcare in this country sucks. Health insurance. It
came call insurance. It's a misnover. It's a misuse of
the word. Anyway. Okay, what they're talking about is Obamacare
on steroids. Now, Biden. Biden put Obamacare, the subsidies for

(01:32):
Obamacare on steroids during COVID. The concern now is is
that Republicans are not going to hold the line because
it's bad politics. Got bad part. We gotta continue to
give free stuff away. And they got many of these
Republicans Mike Johnson, Josh Holly that they happened to live

(01:53):
in states where lot of people, a lot of people
are getting subsidized healths. Yeah, the supercharged subsidies is where
right now? The steroid subsidies passed in twenty twenty one
for COVID, we still got COVID. Well, I know, you know,

(02:17):
I know Ben Affleck's daughter is a daughter? Is it
a guy who wants I don't even know. Yeah, you
see her at the un you know, telling everybody to
put masks back on. Anyway, Yep, yep, we uh rejuiced
the subsidies for everyone to the point where people are
getting subsidies Obamacare subsidies those earning up to four hundred

(02:41):
percent of the poverty line. Now, what Biden did, what
the what the Democrats did is they put an expiration
date on these supercharged subsidies. Now, both Democrats and Republicans
do this crap all the time. It's an account gimmick.
It's an accounting gimmick. They say, oh, you know, this

(03:03):
is all it's going to cost, because it's going to expire,
like it's a cart and the milk. Okay, More often
than not, government handouts don't expire. They just extend them.
And again, it was all under the guys to make
the Inflation Reduction Act look less expensive over a ten

(03:24):
year wind up. Again, we didn't have any Republicans that
voted for that bill. But Republicans now are scared. They're scared,
they're scared if they take this the way, people might
not vote for them.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, contrary to all of the talking heads on TV
and politicians are at like influencers.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
No, no, that the Obamacare on steroids is not going
to gut Obamacare. Here's some of the numbers. Someone at
one hundred percent, one hundred percent of the poverty line,
you're still going to pay an average of three dollars
and forty five cents a week in premiums for your

(04:14):
health insurance. That's the cheapest middle tier plan, three dollars
and forty five cents a week. The taxpayer is going
to pick up the other ninety eight percent fifty two

(04:34):
dollars a week for a person at two hundred and
fifty percent of the poverty line. Again, taxpayers picking up
two thirds of the premium. Okay, again you making these
these plans free basically, and this is kind of interesting.

(04:55):
They made these plans free basically allowed insurance companies to
get aid for people who may not have even known
that they were enrolled in the plan. This is interesting.
Journal pointed this out. Some forty percent of those in
fully subsidized plans had zero claims in twenty twenty four,

(05:15):
an estimate. The number can't be explained merely by healthy
people not using their health insurance. That they can't. It
doesn't make any sense not to mention, not to mention
the sweetened subsidies. Okay, many people said, screw it, call
the boss up. Nah, I don't want to be on
my employer insurance anymore. You can just pay me more

(05:37):
and I'm just going to go on Obamacare. Now, extending
these subsidies that which Democrats want to do, is gonna
it's gonna cost about four hundred and fifty billion dollars
over a decade. That ain't chump change by any stretch
of the imagination. That that's that's the reality. That's what

(05:58):
we're dealing with right now. Again, we keep heading down
that that slippery slope, you know, more handouts, more giveaways,
the safety net, nonsense. Obamacare from the get go was
you knew it was going to be an absolute albatross
and a disaster and make nobles about the The ultimate

(06:22):
design is to have the government completely control healthcare and
we have a national health system like they have in
the UK. Yeah that, you know, the NHS and the
UK will towards throw it out there as well. Side note,
they actually put this out The NHS put this out
that it's okay, it's okay to marry your cousin, your

(06:45):
first cousin. Studies show that it keeps families closer together.
I'm not making it up. The NHS put.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
That out there.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Get obviously for the immigration reasons that they have there.
But yeah, again, I don't care blow the whole healthcare
system up here in the United States, start and scratch.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
What we've got is garbage.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
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