In early 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act—a massive fiscal package that has wasted enormous amounts of taxpayer dollars and caused inflation to soar to the highest levels in the past 40 years. One problematic provision was an expansion of Obamacare subsidies. The original subsidies were ill-designed, and the expansion made the original problems worse. According to a May 25, 2022 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the expanded subsidies will cost a whopping $30 billion in 2022, an amount 50% above the amount CBO projected one year earlier. Obamacare’s total subsidy cost will be about $90 billion in 2022—$60 billion for the original and $30 billion for the expanded component. Congress should let the expanded Obamacare subsidies expire for at least fourteen reasons.
Brian Blase, Ph.D., is the President of Paragon Health Institute. Brian was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC) from 2017-2019, where he coordinated the development and execution of numerous health policies and advised the President, NEC director, and senior officials. After leaving the White House, Brian founded Blase Policy Strategies and serves as its CEO.
