Former President Barack Obama (center) will join Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., (left) and Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., (right) for closing rallies on Saturday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Spencer Platt/Getty Images; Noah K. Murray/AP Photo)
Since its enactment, Obamacare has offered subsidies in the form of tax credits for health insurance premiums on plans purchased through the ACA's exchanges based on enrollees' income levels. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted enhanced premium tax credits in 2021 that were extended by Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act through the end of 2025 – with the policy now caught up in the shutdown debate.
In a floor speech just a few days into the shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., proclaimed that "if these ACA premium tax credits aren’t extended, the average fifty-five-year-old couple making $85,000 a year would see their premiums not just double, but triple to $25,000 a year."
"That is all Democrats want to fix. We are on the side of the people. The people know it and want it and need it," said Schumer.
When former President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law in 2010, he promised it would "lower costs for families and for businesses and for the federal government, reducing our deficit by over $1T in the next two decades."
Obama also promised that "ten years from now, people will look back and say, this was the right thing to do."
NO 2 HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS HEALTHCARE DRIVES PARTY'S STRATEGY AS SHUTDOWN HEADS INTO NEXT WEEK
United States Capitol building is seen in Washington D.C. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) finds extending the expiring premiums would increase the deficit by roughly $350 billion through 2035, while the Washington Post reports that average Obamacare premiums are set to rise 30% next year.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Thus, while Obama re-enters the political scene to boost Democrats, he may also have to defend his own legacy as the shutdown enters its second month, and critical federal agencies begin to buckle under the pressure of having to operate without funding.
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser and Fox Business' Grady Trimble and Eric Revell contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox
Subscribed
You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter!
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-candidates-lean-on-obama-final-stretch-campaign-as-obamacare-premiums-prepare-spike