Healthcare subsidies for millions could be lost as a result of the November Election…

20 Million Americans could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Obamacare help if Congress does not extend the benefit…

Make that if House Republicans do NOT go along with a extension….

Subsidies that help around 20 million Americans pay for health insurance could disappear after next year, depending on the outcome of November’s election.

The subsidies, which reduce the price of health insurance for people who buy their coverage in the Obamacare marketplaces, were passed as a temporary measure in 2021, then extended as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. In that time, Obamacare enrollment has nearly doubled. If Congress doesn’t extend them, the subsidies will expire at the end of 2025, and the Trump campaign and key Republicans in Congress have said they do not support the extension.

Without the subsidies, some Americans who buy their own health coverage would still get financial help from the government, but hundreds or thousands of dollars less. And families earning more than around $100,000 a year would lose access to federal assistance….

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Neither presidential candidate is talking much about health policy, but the looming subsidy expiration means the next Congress and president will have a choice with significant consequences.

“So much of the attention right now is on would the Affordable Care Act be repealed and replaced,” said Cynthia Cox, a vice president at KFF, a health research group. “Which is a very important question. But even without taking any action, there could be very significant changes to the A.C.A.”

Republicans in Congress have largely abandoned repealing the Affordable Care Act, after failing to do so in 2017. But to extend the subsidies, Congress will need to affirmatively pass legislation. Many Republican lawmakers have already come out against the idea. A spokeswomen for the Trump campaign told The Washington Post recently that the subsidies were poorly designed and “benefit big insurance companies and brokers more than American patients.”

Kamala Harris, in contrast, has said she supports keeping the subsidies, which Democrats in Congress have already voted for twice. Last week, Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate majority leader, applauded the introduction of a new bill to extend them. If Democrats control the House, Senate and White House, they are very likely to pass such legislation….

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