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The post Health Insurers Are Behind Washington’s Shutdown appeared com. “Democrats insist the shutdown is about protecting health care. It’s really about protecting a subsidy gambit that has enriched their political patrons in the insurance industry,” writes Pipes. At its core, the fight is over insurance subsidies. Democrats are demanding that billions in federal payments to insurers continue uninterrupted. Republicans question whether that’s a good idea. Democrats claim they’re protecting “access to care.” In reality, they’re enriching some of the country’s largest corporations at the expense of taxpayers. The enhanced subsidies for exchange coverage are the clearest example. In 2021, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, Democrats boosted the generosity of the premium subsidies established by Obamacare for everyone making less than four times the poverty level, which is nearly $129,000 for a family of four. People making less than 150% of poverty-$48,225 for a family of four-became eligible for premium-free coverage. Those making more than four times poverty became eligible for subsidized coverage for the first time. Democrats extended those subsidies through the end of this year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Making them permanent, as the Democrats want to do, would cost $350 billion over the next decade. That would represent a direct transfer from the federal Treasury to the bank accounts of big insurers. Much of that figure is waste. Insurers are claiming premium subsidies for millions of people who do not use their coverage at all. Last year, nearly 12 million enrollees-35% of the exchange population-had no claims. Perhaps they were incredibly lucky. It’s more likely they didn’t know they had exchange coverage. Millions of people have been enrolled in exchange plans without their knowledge or consent, according to research from the Paragon Health Institute. Insurers and.