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22 million Americans just got priced out of healthcare overnight.
On January 1, the ACA enhanced subsidies expired. Congress let them die.
The numbers are staggering:
📈 Average premium increases: 114%
💸 Monthly costs jumping from $69 to $272
🏥 Deductibles soaring from $0 to $6,000
💰 Annual out-of-pocket doubling from $888 to $1,904
One New Jersey couple saw their premium explode from $340 to nearly $2,000 per month. That’s their mortgage payment.
Low-income Americans earning under $25,000 annually? Their silver plans jumped from near-zero to over $100 monthly. For someone making minimum wage, that’s 10 hours of work just for health insurance.
This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about choices no one should make:
• Skip medications or see a doctor?
• Pay rent or keep insurance?
• Risk bankruptcy or go uninsured?
The cruel irony? Those earning just above 400% of the federal poverty level ($62,600 for individuals) lose ALL subsidies. Make $1 too much, pay thousands more.
Here’s what happens next:
Millions will drop coverage. Emergency rooms will see uninsured surges. Hospitals will face uncompensated care crises. Rural facilities, already struggling, may close.
The House plans a vote this month on a three-year extension. But with divided government, millions remain in limbo.
Meanwhile, short-term junk plans with coverage gaps are the only option for many. We’re watching the ACA unravel in real-time.
This subsidy cliff was predictable, preventable, and unconscionable.
When healthcare becomes a luxury good, we all pay the price through higher premiums, overwhelmed ERs, and a sicker population.
The question isn’t whether we can afford to extend these subsidies.
It’s whether we can afford not to.
♻️ Repost if healthcare shouldn’t bankrupt families
👉 Follow me, Jonathan Govette, for real-time updates on healthcare technology and business news. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangovette/
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Author:
CEO/Co-Founder @ Oatmeal Health | AI Lung Cancer Screening | Almost Became a Doctor | Engineer | Follow to Share What I’ve Learned Along the Way
I help patients get the care they need earlier, preventing late-stage cancer.
That’s been the throughline across three companies and almost 20 years in healthcare. At ReferralMD, we fixed broken referral networks so patients didn’t fall through the cracks. At Oatmeal Health, it’s lung cancer: building the diagnostic and screening infrastructure so the 85% of cases caught too late get caught early instead.
Today as CEO of Oatmeal Health, I lead a team embedding AI into radiology workflows to turn routine lung CT scans into reimbursable cancer risk assessments. We partner with FQHCs to reach underserved communities, and with health systems and payers to make early detection economically sustainable. Think HeartFlow or Cleerly, but for lungs.
Between companies, I advised at Techstars and Plug and Play, mentoring founders building in digital health. That experience shaped how I think about what separates companies that ship from companies that stall: distribution, reimbursement, and clinical trust, not just technology.
I’m a CancerX alumnus, a 3x healthcare founder, and someone who believes the biggest problems in cancer aren’t scientific. They’re operational.
We’re hiring mission-driven builders at Oatmeal Health. If you want to work on something that matters, reach out.
When I’m not working, I’m traveling, mentoring, and keeping up with one very energetic husky. 🐾
Substack – The Oatmeal Bite:
Millions of patients get less care because of who they are, where they live, or how they look. I’m fighting to change that. CEO @OatmealHealth, a startup built for the underserved. The Oatmeal Bite: intel for clinicians, investors, and advocates.
Jonathan Govette
CEO of Oatmeal Health
Substack:
https://oatmealhealthjonathangovette.substack.com/
