“It’s All Costing More:” Already Struggling to Get By, Gabe Evans’ Constituents Brace for Skyrocketing Health Care Premiums

• Evans has repeatedly greenlit tariffs that are driving up prices on everything from household goods, to car insurance, to groceries.
• Evans approved slashing nearly $500 million from Colorado for programs designed to lower utility costs, weeks after he voted to jeopardize clean energy projects that could have shaved hundreds off of Colordans’ electricity bills.
• Evans helped pass the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, which are projected to kick more than 225,000 Coloradans off their insurance and could close at least six Colorado hospitals – making health care access more expensive for Coloradans.

Now, one of Evans’ constituents is sounding the alarm that while “it’s all costing more,” she’s especially concerned about skyrocketing Affordable Care Act premiums. And for good reason: In Evans’ district alone, Coloradans could see their premiums spike 176-195% next year if Congress fails to extend ACA tax credits.

What is Evans doing about this? Riding off into the sunset, with no plans to try to save his own constituents from the health care crisis he helped create.

See for yourself…

Colorado Public Radio: Prices through marketplace health insurance could double as government shutdown dispute digs in

• “My utilities have gone up, homeowners’ insurance has gone up, auto insurance has gone up,” said Hix as she sat on her back deck with her dog Rooney. “It’s all costing more. And this is just one more thing.”
• The “this” she referred to is the health insurance coverage she buys through the state’s marketplace, Connect for Health Colorado.
• About a quarter of a million Coloradans rely on the subsidies to help cover their health insurance costs, and about half of them, roughly 112,000, are expected to lose coverage all altogether, according to the exchange.
• Even those who don’t receive tax credits to pay for health insurance are expected to see their premiums rise, potentially dramatically.
• The trouble is that when tax subsidies expire, it can drive up everyone’s costs, having a ripple effect throughout the health care system.
• When the tax credits expire, millions of Americans who get financial assistance will see monthly health insurance premium costs shoot up. Some will say, “I can’t afford this,” and simply drop out of the marketplace for insurance. 
• As healthier people leave it, the larger overall pool of those who are insured gets less healthy. And that in turn forces up the cost of premiums for everybody. That includes even those… not getting a tax credit.

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