Over 190,000 Pennsylvanians have dropped their healthcare coverage through Pennie, the commonwealth’s healthcare marketplace, after Republicans in Congress refused to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that expired at the end of last year.
“It’s catastrophic, and I don’t use that word lightly,” State Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-Allegheny) said in an interview.
Venkat, who was first elected to the Pennsylvania House in 2022, sits on Pennie’s Board of Directors, and is the General Assembly’s only practicing emergency room physician.
“Individuals who have dropped their health insurance coverage are a time bomb waiting to happen,” he said.
He added, “we don’t know when we might get sick and when we might need care, and what we’re seeing is a rapid increase in the number of our fellow Pennsylvanians who are very vulnerable to falling into medical debt, to experiencing bankruptcy, and having severe medical consequences.”
Republicans allowed the ACA tax credits, which were part of the Inflation Reduction Act, to expire at the end of last year, and Pennie officials at the time warned that as many as 200,000 customers dropped their coverage.
Venkat pointed to House Bill 2550, which passed out of the Pennsylvania House by a 200 to 2 vote earlier this year, as a potential solution to ease rising costs, but it has sat in the state Senate since June.
The bill would establish a tax credit for small businesses with 50 or fewer employees who contribute to their employees’ health insurance premiums through an arrangement with Pennie. Other states that have enacted similar proposals or are considering them include Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Connecticut, and Arizona.
“If we continue on this trajectory over the next two to three years, we could end up falling from a high of almost 500,000 Pennsylvanians who are insured on Pennie to closer to 300,000 or even less,” Venkat said.
Nationally, a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation released earlier this year found that over 80% of Americans enrolled in an ACA marketplace plan saw their healthcare costs increase and 55% cut spending on food and other expenses to remain covered.
Pennie customers saw their average premiums increase by 102% after the ACA tax credits expired with rural counties seeing the largest increase in premiums, and according to Venkat, the increase in healthcare costs is becoming an issue while talking to constituents.
“I door knock constantly…, and I have heard story after story from my constituents who are trying to stay insured, had good health insurance through Pennie, and now they have been forced to drop their health insurance coverage,” Venkat said.
“The issue of affordability in healthcare is significant and one that may be the most important issue in this election, and one that I hear always when I’m speaking with my constituents.”
