They say if more and more people can’t pay for health care, the cost will get passed onto others, meaning premiums will go up.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Health care costs could skyrocket for millions of Americans. With the federal government now open, and no guarantee the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies will get extended, health experts worry about what this could mean.
“We’re going to see people going in when they’re sicker, they’re going to go in instead of with a stage 1 cancer, they may end up going in with a stage 3 or 4 cancer,” said Lisa Mattson, president of the Minnesota Medical Association.
Mattson said not extending the subsidies is a big deal and worries some families will go uninsured. She said more uninsured people will be visiting the emergency room and that the cost will be passed onto the taxpayer, who will also see their premiums go up as a result.
“A lot of these people there are going to see their insurance premium go up on average about $177,” she said. “The average increase is 112%, so we’re talking about more than doubling your current premiums.”
She said she worries that people will choose lower-level insurance and be underinsured. Mattson said that means they’re going to be picking up a higher deductible plan that will cost them less money. She said they estimate on average, their deductible will be between $7,000 and $9,000.
“These are hardworking, honest people who just want to be able to afford good healthcare for their families,” Mattson said. “It’s important to remember this is not Medicaid, this is for people who don’t qualify for Medicaid, but have jobs, most of them are self-employed, or they’re working for small organizations that can’t afford to offer insurance to their employees.”
Joe Schindler, the vice president of finance policy at the Minnesota Hospital Association, said not extending ACA subsidies will put more pressure on the system.
“This just puts more financial pressure on the system, which then leads to hospitals having to make hard decisions about services they can maintain, or what services have to be cut just to keep the doors open,” Schindler said.
Rural hospitals are already struggling, but he said it’s hard to predict what will be the final straw.
“We are very concerned about access to care in rural Minnesota, partly because we think a disproportionate share of individual market is residing in Minnesota. These are farmers, these are small businesses that reside in Minnesota,” he said.
Schindler said a lot of Minnesotans might choose to drop their health care coverage because the premiums are too high.
“There’s been some estimates from the state, at least preliminary, that would indicate that as many as 60,000 Minnesotans would drop coverage due to the unaffordability of these premium increases,” he said.
He said the state of Minnesota provides premium support for the individual market, so the cost to Minnesotans won’t be as bad as in some other states.
However, he said not extending the ACA subsidies will be a big hit to hospitals across the state.
“I think the main thing to keep in mind here is that cuts to individuals, even if it’s a smaller market of Minnesotans, it affects everybody when hospitals have to make hard choices about what services to keep open,” he said. “When one pair is not paying their fair share, the other pairs are left to pick up the difference.”
Schindler said most Minnesota hospitals serve everyone regardless of whether they can pay.
Both Schindler and Mattson said if more and more people can’t pay, those costs will get passed onto taxpayers, and as a result, even if you don’t rely on these subsidies, your premiums will also go up.
“When one pair is not paying their fair share, the other pairs are left to pick up the difference,” Mattson said.
Mattson said he’s grateful that telehealth flexibility and the hospital-at-home program will be funded through January.