Why Should Delaware Care?
As the cost of health insurance is set to rise in 2026, a tax credit that has boosted enrollment in the Affordable Care Act in recent years and lowered costs for enrollees is set to go away at the end of the year. Governors from 18 states, including Delaware, are pleading for an extension.
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has intervened in a Congressional fight over funding of the health insurance marketplace, known as Obamacare.
With Delaware’s health insurance premiums set to soar next year, Meyer and 17 other Democratic state governors sent a letter to leaders in Congress pleading with them to extend a boosted form of tax credits for the Affordable Care Act.
Congress increased those credits – which essentially subsidize monthly bills for enrollees in the health insurance marketplace – during the COVID pandemic, but that increase is set to expire at the end of this year.
Now, a battle to extend the boosted form of the credits, largely between Republicans within Congress, is “shaping up to be one of the most politically explosive policy fights of the fall,” according to a report from Politico.
The debate comes just as Congress also considers a divisive spending bill that, if not passed, would lead to a government shutdown. Politico reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson is not tying the success of the two battles to each other.
In their letter, Meyer and the other governors said that if Congress acts quickly to extend the boosted credits, “states can lock in lower premiums and spare families a wave of sticker shock this fall.”
“If not, the damage will be felt for years,” the letter stated.
Asked if the state would take money from its own budget to subsidize losses from the possible expiration of the credits, Meyer said he was “looking at it.” But, he also claimed that additional state spending may be “challenging” because of separate Congressional actions that reduced federal contributions to programs, such as food stamps and Medicaid.
The governors’ request follows an announcement in August from Delaware’s Insurance Commissioner that insurance plans in the state listed on the Affordable Care Act marketplace are set to increase in 2026.
The marketplace will open for enrollment on Nov. 1.
In a press release that accompanied the governors’ letter to Congress, Meyer’s office said the health care premiums could increase an average of $700 if the boosted credits aren’t renewed. Asked for clarity on the assertion, a spokesperson for Meyer said the figure represents the increase in the out-of-pocket contributions that an enrollee would have to pay toward the premium.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, several Delaware lawmakers joined Meyer for a press conference where they spoke about concerns over a loss of the boosted tax credits.
Meyer said “thousands” of Delawareans could lose subsidies that lower their premium costs. Sen. Marie Pinkney (D-Bear) asked why the government would force people off of health insurance “in a country that is one of the sickest in the world?”
Delaware’s health secretary, Josette Manning, said more than 50,000 people in the state could lose their coverage if the boosted credits are not extended.
She also asserted that if people aren’t able to get care as a result of the credits going away, it could stress Delaware’s “already stretched health care system and significantly increase the cost of care.”
More than 90% of people on Affordable Care Act plans in Delaware receive some form of subsidy, Tanisha Merced, Delaware’s deputy insurance commissioner, said at the press conference.
Last spring, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that “permanently extending the expanded premium tax credits would increase the federal deficit by $370 billion” over 10 years.
Below are the projected premium increases for next year’s Delaware ACA plans:
- AmeriHealth Caritas: 34.98%
- Celtic Ambetter Health of Delaware: 31.8%
- Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield: 25%
