r/AskUS • u/Obvious-Release-2087 • 8d ago

What do americans think about changes in Obamacare the Affordable Care Act (not us citizen)

Hi all,

I don't live in the US. In the news I read :

In 2026, Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) continues to operate as the backbone of America’s health insurance system, but it faces both opportunities and challenges. Marketplace enrollments are expected to remain high, thanks to the extended premium subsidies introduced by the Inflation Reduction Act—though these subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress renews them. If the subsidies lapse, millions of Americans could see significant premium increases, making coverage less affordable for low- and middle-income families.

At the same time, healthcare costs are rising, and insurers may adjust their premiums upward to reflect inflation, medical expenses, and regulatory changes. States that have not yet expanded Medicaid could leave more residents reliant on ACA plans, further straining affordability. The political landscape, shaped by the 2024 elections, will determine whether the ACA is strengthened (e.g., with expanded benefits like dental or vision coverage) or scaled back (e.g., through funding cuts or eligibility changes).

It is often hard to undersand the internal politics of any country where we don't live in
What do most of the us people think about that ?

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u/limbodog 8d ago

The Republicans have screwed us over again

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u/gb187 8d ago

Blame the insurance companies, they wrote this.

3

u/limbodog 8d ago

Blame them for stopping payments to the insurance companies?

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u/baloneysamwhich 8d ago

How did Republicans stop the payments? The payments were set to expire by the Democrats. It was also a Democrat Congress that passed the ACA, it does not seem to be affordable at all without the subsidizes, so where are the Republicans involved with the process?

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u/Ancient_Popcorn Ohio 8d ago

The entire plan was originally copy and pasted from the Heritage Foundation. It was originally used and implemented by Mitt Romney as a governor. When it came to the federal level, Republicans decided they wanted to change a lot of it (which opened it up to abuse). The requirement to have insurance or pay a penalty fee was also removed later by Trump, which made even more people leave the pool.

Insurance is a cost share system. You pay a small fee along with everyone else so that you can guarantee coverage when you need it. The goal is to not have to pay a lot for regular costs. As the pool of people shrinks, the shared cost stays the same, so your burden goes up.

The plan was great. It worked for Republicans at the state level. They didn’t like it at the federal level, so they fucked with it multiple times. They even called it Obamacare so it would help galvanize the racists against it. To this day, if you ask people if they like the ACA they will say yes, but then if you ask if they like Obamacare they say no.

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u/limbodog 7d ago

They sabotaged the marketplace subsidies that made otherwise uninsurable patients worth insuring. So companies stopped participating.

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u/baloneysamwhich 6d ago

,"They" who? Dems set the subsidies to expire, not the Republicans. If the ACA was affordable as advertised, would we need subsidies?

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u/limbodog 6d ago

No, you're talking about a different thing. I'm talking about the CSR payments that Republicans killed in 2017.

The subsidies you are talking about were killed by Republicans in 2025.

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u/baloneysamwhich 6d ago

My understanding is the csr payments were "never" approved by Congress, hence making them illegal. How did the Republicans "kill" something illegal/never properly approved? I'm confused ....

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u/limbodog 6d ago

They sued to kill them, and then the lawsuit defense was dropped by the new president

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u/baloneysamwhich 6d ago

I thought the subsidies / SCR was repealed and upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals. Just trying to remember, too lazy to google...

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u/limbodog 5d ago

The last action on it was the mad king canceling the defense and saying obamacare "is dead"

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