HEY TEXAS ACA ENROLLEES: Here's an article about #SilverLoading & #PremiumAlignment which puts them in pretty easy-to-understand terms: www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

Why a little-known state law m...

IMPORTANT: The ~300,000 that the CBO projects to lose coverage due to #SilverLoading ending would be ON TOP OF the ~4M or so the CBO projects to lose coverage due to the enhanced tax credits expiring. I've updated the headline at the link to try & make this more clear.

IMPORTANT: The ~300,000 that the CBO projects to lose coverage due to #SilverLoading ending would be ON TOP OF the ~4M or so the CBO projects to lose coverage due to the enhanced tax credits expiring.

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:kd4cyu4rpkgjbym3gckhrivz/post/3ma4wzdjqds2e

🚨 House GOP Bill: No #ACA tax credit extension after all; CBO projects 300K to lose coverage due to end of #SilverLoading in mostly red states:

https://acasignups.net/25/12/16/house-gop-bill-no-tax-credit-extension-after-all-cbo-projects-300k-lose-coverage-due-end

🚨 House GOP Bill: No #ACA tax credit extension after all; CBO projects 300K to lose coverage due to end of #SilverLoading in mostly red states: acasignups.net/25/12/16/hou...

House GOP bill: No tax credit ...

I should note that if #SilverLoading *is* ended, the 14 states with #PremiumAlignment policies in place will still have more affordable Gold & Bronze plans, it just won't be nearly as dramatic. Silver Loading/Switching make up the bulk of Premium Alignment but not all of it.

This means that #SilverLoading would be ended in red states (and some purple/blue ones) but would continue in the following states: CA, CO, IL, ME, MD, MA, MN, NJ, NY, OR, VT, WA.

You can read my explainer of #SilverLoading here. Short version: It made *full-price* Silver plans more expensive but also made BRONZE and GOLD plans far *less* expensive in most states...to the point that some people can get them for $0/mo. acasignups.net/24/01/05/my-...

My Simplified #SilverLoading E...

Trump & the GOP thought ending these payments would severely damage the ACA; instead they actually ended up unintentionally *strengthening* it thanks to a clever pricing reaction by insurance carriers & state regulators called #SilverLoading which turned lemons into lemonade.

It's also important to understand that this would also eliminate #SilverLoading, which means GROSS premiums for ~1.6M middle-class enrollees would likely drop ~11%...but it would also cause NET premiums for around ~5.7M *low-income* enrollees to INCREASE, in many cases by 20-30% or so.

Last week I explained how wonky stuff like #SilverLoading and #PremiumAlignment have been used by some states to significantly *reduce* the price of GOLD and BRONZE plans while simultaneously boosting the amount of federal subsidies which can be used to buy them. acasignups.net/25/11/06/pre...

Premium Alignment, or how a do...

I should note that plenty of other states have embraced #SilverLoading, which is sort of a weaker version of #PremiumAlignment, so folks should check out Gold plans anyway to see if they’re a better value even if they aren’t an *amazing* deal.

If you've read my posts about #SilverLoading in the past, this is related to that but takes it one step further. It's perfectly legal and is actually more in line with how the #ACA itself was actually worded. Some states have been using #PremiumAlignment for years now; 3 more are doing so in 2026.

If you really want to understand why this is the case, here's my #SilverLoading explainer from a few years back. Some states have fully embraced & are maximizing silver loading; others not so much. acasignups.net/24/01/05/my-...

My Simplified #SilverLoading E...

NOTE: If this family shops around they can knock that $722 down to $678/month *and* reduce their deductible by $3,000 to boot thanks to #SilverLoading. They'd still be paying 88% more in premiums, but that's something...

NEXT UP: HOUSEHOLD INCOME (200 - 400% FPL) --25% (6.0 million) of #ACA enrollees earn 200-400% FPL --They'll be hit w/a DOUBLE whammy: Not only will the IRA subsidies likely expire, so will #SilverLoading, meaning they'll be hit on both premiums *and* OOP costs! acasignups.net/2025_oep/fin...

Final 2025 Open Enrollment Rep...

However, thanks to High AV CSR ( #SecretPlatinum ), over 75% of Mississippi enrollees actually have "Gold Or Better" coverage. METAL LEVELS / GOLD+ COVERAGE WILL BE COMPLETELY HOSED IF THE IRA SUBSIDIES EXPIRE & #SilverLoading ENDS.

NEXT UP: NEW vs. RENEWALS: -- 17% of all #ACA exchange enrollees are new --39% actively re-enrolled; 45% passively re-enrolled --That 45% will be a MAJOR PROBLEM THIS FALL given the likely expiration of IRA subsidies *and* the likely end of #SilverLoading acasignups.net/2025_oep/fin...

Final 2025 Open Enrollment Rep...

In 2017, Trump spent 6 months vowing to "cripple the ACA" by cutting off CSR payments to insurance carriers before he finally actually did so. Ironically, this backfired & ended up *strengthening* the ACA marketplaces when carriers & state regulators implemented #SilverLoading in response.

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:wlxmovqrcg4vnm7xgzwfuqu2/post/3lh54krsy4k2m

This is thanks to a pricing strategy known as #SilverLoading (officially #PremiumAdjustment) which has been around since 2018 but which has become more widely used since then. Here's a simple explainer for those interested: acasignups.net/24/01/05/my-...

My Simplified #SilverLoading E...