On February 8, 2024, Paragon’s Theo Merkel was quoted in Heartland Daily News alongside one of our Paragon Pics on Exchange enrollees.
From the article:
Biden credited “lower premiums,” health insurance that doesn’t penalize patients for pre-existing conditions, and charging enrollees the same rates regardless of sex, but did not mention how much the government subsidizes premiums, the tax credits offered to families whose income exceeds 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), or the narrowed access to doctors over the years to control plans’ costs.
“Many of the new enrollees are likely people who did not enroll when the premium was 2 to 4 percent of their income but do when coverage is given to them for free,” said Theo Merkel, a senior research fellow at the Paragon Health Institute.
A graph in a post by Merkel shows nearly half of the exchange enrollees live below 150 percent of the FPL. Those enrollees pay zero for the benchmark plan. Premiums for an unsubsidized Obamacare plan can cost $5,628 for a 40-year-old adult.
