Everyone knew the ACA subsidies were dead the moment Dems caved on the government shutdown. Democratic leadership knew it. They are too experienced in the game to have thought otherwise. Unfortunately they are experienced in a game that nobody but them plays anymore.

And now Chuck Schumer thinks a win is to get Ice to change their uniforms.

How were we going to force the majority party to extend the subsidies? Can you point to an example of something like that happening through a government shutdown? Just because we didn't get them via one path, that doesn't mean we would have gotten them through doing the opposite. Sometimes you just lose.

The two inflection points were the 2024 elections and when we pushed through a 3 year extension of subsidies instead of adding them longer because we were using budget reconciliation and had to make choices to keep the budget neutral.

Schumer gave those other senators permission to fold with nothing but a promise for a vote.

Everyone knew that the vote would be NO....and now the subsidies are gone.

What a win....for the health insurance industry.

Did anyone here actually believe that this strategy would work, that the subsidies weren't fully gone?

Sadly, yes.

What do you call hoping against hope, against prior experience? Reminds me of that definition of insanity involving doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

This is a major screw-up. Millions of people have been thrown to the wolves.

Walk me through it?

Limits on out of pocket expenses go away, but lifetime caps return.

They get to charge more to people with preexisting conditions....quick note: being a woman is a preexisting condition!

Young adults won't be able to stay on their parents' health insurance until 26 (probably forced off at 18).

This is just a little bit of it, but basically, they get to charge more for less care and not care for things that are expensive, because they will no longer be covered by insurance or they will hit that lifetime maximum cap.

The extended subsidies came in long after the ACA. What's the path to get all the ACA requirements about young adults staying on their parent's plan or doing away with prohibitions on preexisting conditions?

If you think Republicans will allow the ACA to continue, well, you are far more optimistic than I am.

And the ACA is still popular. Legislation is a lot stickier than people think. Republicans don't have a good path to getting rid of the ACA considering they can't get legislation passed due to squabbling and the filibuster.

I have little faith about any of it anymore.

Since Citizens United, most of our government is up for sale to the highest bidder and the highest bidders want serfs, at best.

into financial ruin. Debt in default, homes in foreclosure, and still zero potential for any sort of policy victory.

That’s not just stupid policy, it is cruelty.

It wouldn’t have done anything to extend the subsidies.

Everyone knew it was over the second the Senate Democrats caved on the shutdown.

We can’t achieve class consciousness soon enough.

Nope, EVERYONE saw this coming. More obvious that Lucy with the football and Charlie Brown goes flying again.

Pathetic.

FUCKEMALL

Surely, somebody had to have thought about that at the time.

It was beyond crystal clear that the GOP would do this. Everyone, including the GOP, told them they would do this. Over and over and over again they were told this would happen. But they voted GOP anyhow. Well guess what, elections have consequences, who the hell could have guessed. Oh wait, everyone, literally everyone could have and should have guessed.