Beginning January 1, hundreds of thousands of Illinois families will face a serious health care shock.
Approximately 450,000 Illinois residents rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans, and many are staring down premium increases of well over 100 percent. At the same time, deductibles on some plans are climbing as high as $10,000 per person. For working families and seniors on fixed incomes, these increases are simply unsustainable.
What makes this situation especially frustrating is that the people who designed this failed healthcare experiment are not the ones paying the price. Instead, Illinois families who followed the rules and enrolled in ACA plans are now being punished with massive cost increases. These families have little ability to shop for alternatives, because Illinois law eliminated other health plan options, including basic health plans, leaving many residents with no choice but expensive ACA coverage.
This crisis did not happen overnight, and there is plenty of blame to go around. But finger-pointing will not help families who are trying to figure out how to afford coverage in the new year. What they need now is relief and accountability.
That is why I have introduced legislation to help ease the burden on Illinois residents. Senate Bill 2763 would allow individuals who purchase ACA health plans on the individual market to fully deduct their premiums and all out-of-pocket health care costs. Illinois already allows this deduction for those with employer-based plans, and legislators themselves receive this benefit. There is no reason taxpayers should be treated worse than the elected officials who represent them.
I have also introduced Senate Resolution 546, urging Congress to extend the COVID-era ACA subsidies for one year. This temporary extension would give lawmakers time to address the billions of dollars in fraud within the program and work toward a permanent, bipartisan solution. However, Congress must be serious about getting the job done.
Members of Congress currently enjoy generous, taxpayer-subsidized health care benefits. If these lawmakers fail to deliver a bipartisan ACA fix by the end of next year, they should have their healthcare subsidies removed. I can tell you that if Congressmen were facing a $30,000 increase in their healthcare costs, they would get serious about fixing the broken ACA program.
Illinois families deserve a health care system that works for them, not one that leaves them paying the price for political failure. It is time for Congress to act and provide real long term healthcare solutions.
State Senator Dave Syverson
35th Senate District