In Washington, D.C., a politician’s words don’t count for much. What counts are their actions, and who benefits from them.
When you look behind the spin and empty talking points, illegal aliens and big insurance companies benefit most from the Democrats’ ongoing filibuster of the budget and government shutdown.
First, illegal aliens and other non-citizens stand to gain roughly $200 billion in welfare benefits under Democrat proposals to cancel reforms passed by Republicans earlier this year.
Congress had to close Obama and Biden-era loopholes that provided welfare to illegal aliens, including bonus money for illegal aliens’ “emergency” Medicaid, ObamaCare funding for non-citizens, lax oversight that let illegal aliens enroll with stolen identities, and the “California loophole,” which forced federal taxpayers to fund blue states’ welfare spending on illegal aliens.
All told, the Democrats’ plans would put taxpayers back on the hook for billions in welfare for illegal aliens, and they’re willing to shut down the government to get it.
The second beneficiary of the Democrats’ shutdown is the big insurance companies.
That’s thanks to one of President Joe Biden’s COVID-era bonus programs: a temporary policy to expand ObamaCare subsidies to insurance companies — more recently known as “The Great ObamaCare Enrollment Fraud.”
During COVID, Democrats significantly increased taxpayer-funded Obamacare subsidies at every level, including those who make up to half a million dollars. For the typical enrollee, taxpayers paid 100% of the premiums for a platinum-plus plan that had no deductible and few copays.
At the time, Biden’s COVID bonus was sold as a temporary boost with an expiration date — December 31, 2025 — a date unilaterally chosen and agreed to by the Democrats in charge.
These are the credits the Democrats just shut down the government to protect.
The problem is: low-income workers aren’t the biggest beneficiaries of this plan. Insurance companies are.
The Obamacare tax credits are sent every month directly to the insurance company, regardless of what plan the enrollee chooses, and regardless of whether the enrollee uses them. Unsurprisingly, the most generous plans are selected the most often: platinum-plus. The average annual subsidy for this group has risen to about $7,500 per person, from the taxpayers’ pockets straight to the insurance companies’ bottom lines.
That didn’t just incentivize sign-ups — it turbocharged fraud.
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports a greater number of sign-ups than the entire population of eligible Americans. Somehow, these Obamacare subsidies are being used by more enrollees than exist in the entire eligibility pool — and in some states, enrollment is five times the number of eligible enrollees.
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Insurance brokers and agents are paid a commission on sign-ups no matter how they were generated. That means taxpayer money is rewarding open fraud, stolen identities, and people being signed up or switched without their knowledge or permission.
As further proof of fraud, a stunning 40% of zero-premium enrollees made no health-care claims at all in 2024 — no doctor visit, no lab tests, no prescriptions filled. The number of no-claim enrollees has increased more than sixfold since 2020.
Altogether, taxpayers are now sending more than $53 billion every year directly to insurance companies for people who never use these plans, don’t know they have them, or don’t even exist.
Still, congressional Democrats are so committed to protecting this taxpayer giveaway that they shut down the government to demand its extension.
Even when these credits do expire, taxpayers will still cover more than 90% of the premiums. The average enrollee will pay only $3 to $14 per week for platinum-plus plans.
The voters saw through this nonsense when they gave Republicans their majorities in Congress — in no small part because of their pledges on government spending and illegal immigration.
So why would Republicans cave on both issues today, simply to save the Democrats from having to eat their words?
Jonathan Ingram is the Vice President of Policy and Research at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
