The ObamaCare Blue-City Bailout

Wal Street Journal ^ | November 2, 2025 | Allysia Finley

[karpov]

Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago was scrambling to close a $369 million deficit in 2013. The inception of ObamaCare offered an enticing target for cost shaving: retiree health coverage.

The city expected to spend $194 million that year subsidizing health insurance for its retirees, many of whom were too young to qualify for Medicare. Such costs were projected to increase to $540 million by 2023 at the same time as pension payments were ballooning. While courts in Illinois and other states have held that public employee pensions are legally protected, governments have more latitude to make changes to medical benefits.

So Mr. Emanuel dumped his city’s retirees onto the nascent ObamaCare exchanges, where federal subsidies can reduce premium payments. Voilà, Chicago’s $2.1 billion unfunded retiree healthcare liability vanished. Now U.S. taxpayers pick up the tab for Chicago’s retirees in their 50s and early 60s.

Chicago isn’t alone in trying this neat fiscal trick. Detroit, Stockton, Calif., and San Bernardino, Calif., also saved billions by shifting pre-Medicare retirees to ObamaCare when they filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in the 2010s. That minimized cuts to workers’ compensation and pensions. Detroit’s $170 million annual retiree healthcare bill made up nearly 20% of its general fund budget, one of the city’s biggest costs.

Other municipalities may move retirees to ObamaCare to avoid layoffs and tax hikes. ObamaCare could soon became a safety valve for underwater cities.

Enter Democrats in Congress, who are refusing to reopen the government unless Republicans agree to extend the pandemic-era ObamaCare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. The news is filled with stories of people who will have to pay modestly more for their insurance, never mind that the feds would still pick up roughly 80% of the cost for a typical plan.

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TOPICS: Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: obamacare

[karpov]

full article

[Elsie]

...never mind that the feds their neighbors would still pick up roughly 80% of the cost for a typical plan.

[larryjohnson]

Can’t get full article thanks

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

Whole point of Democrat games.

[Brian Griffin]

Be aware for middle income people who buy their own coverage the PPACA is blowing up.

There’s an external reason (as well as an internal reason) MTG is acting crazy.

Two possible compromises come to mind.

Compromise Option 1:

Give the PPACA Pelosi formula subsidies to the insurance company and let the insurance company reallocate them based on financial statements of customers.

The PPACA exchanges only cover people with at least 100% of FPL - about $17,000 for an individual and $34,000 for a family of four. Such people don’t pay all their bills with cash - they have a bank account.

Compromise Option 2:

Cap enhancement subsidy decreases to 10% of the policy premiums.

If your share of a $700/month policy would go from $200/month on the Schumer subsidy formula to $410/month on the Pelosi subsidy formula, the 10% change cap would have your share go to $270/month.

NOTE: Compromise 2 might be chosen for 2026 and Compromise 1 for later years. Reallocation requires people to do it.

[Brian Griffin]

The federal debt is ~$110,000/American resident.

The federal debt is ~$240,000/American worker.

[Brian Griffin]

“In 2023 and 2024, 80 percent of marketplace enrollees could find a plan for $10 or less per month on HealthCare.gov, the federal marketplace that operates in 31 states (19 states and the District of Columbia run their own marketplaces).”

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/explainer/2025/feb/enhanced-premium-tax-credits-aca-health-plans

[Cowgirl of Justice]

My sister and her husband live in WA state and they are going to only be able to afford to cover ONE of them for insurance.

But, illegals have EVERYTHING for FREE:

“WA budget includes $150M to maintain health coverage for low-income immigrants”

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/15/wa-budget-includes-150m-to-maintain-health-coverage-for-low-income-immigrants/

[EVO X]

Thanks for posting. Interesting! I missed Chicago dumping retires on to Obamacare..

[Not_Who_U_Think]

There’s an ever-increasing market for free.

As the article illustrates, as long as the taxpayers are paying for it, lots more people can “afford” it.

No mention of the cost of these subsides, which is the issue.

We live in a time where behind every government door there’s a goodie behind it. A never ending supply of cash to be grabbed by whoever screams the loudest. .

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Musk is right.