Within the next week, the U-S Supreme Court is expected to rule in a case that could impact the health coverage of tens of thousands of people in Indiana. In King v. Burwell, the court will decide if premium subsidies should be withdrawn in states where the federal government is running insurance marketplaces. The health care advocacy group Families U-S-A compiled data and found that 160 thousand Hoosiers could lose premium tax credits. And executive director Ron Pollack says their average premium, which is 120 dollars a month, could skyrocket.
"If the subsidies are withdrawn they would rise to average of 438 dollars, nearly four times as great. It means that the premiums would increase by 318 dollars per month, or more than 3800 dollars per year."
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Nationally, nearly six-and-a-half million people in 34 states could lose the subsidy. The plaintiffs in King v. Burwell claim that as the Affordable Care Act is written, federal subsidies should only be allowed in states that have established their own health insurance exchanges.
Pollack contends that if the court rules against the tax credits, many low and moderate-income residents would not be able to afford health insurance. And he says there would be devastating consequences for the health care system as a whole.
"With each passing year more and more younger people and healthy people will drop out and as the premiums continue to escalate that will be a never-ending cycle. And that’s what we mean by a death spiral: health insurance will not realistically be available. "
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SOURCE: Indiana News Service
