Posted by Just as I predicted, the Trump administration now has the record for the longest government shutdown in US history. The extension of expiring subsidies for health insurance purchased under the Affordable Care Act is the main conflict. The expiring subsidies will impact 24 million or about 7% of Americans. Because neither side will budge on the issue, the whole country is being held hostage. Every day this continues, the damage to our economy becomes more evident. The latest is a reduction in the number of flights at major airports. At this point, it will take a strike by government workers or a stock market crash to end the shutdown. If that happens, the impact will be felt by everyone. This is all because republican lawmakers believe that extending ACA subsidies provides tax dollars to help pay for the health care of undocumented immigrants which is not true.
Like most Americans, I find this very frustrating. Trying to argue a point that is not true is totally unethical. The impact of losing ACA subsidies will be felt by more than those who currently use ACA. You can add millions more who will no longer qualify for Medicaid because Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” reduces federal funding for Medicaid, potentially leading to higher costs for states and reduced coverage for eligible individuals. My state has already notified Medicaid recipients that there will be new qualification requirements coming soon. This will no doubt cause the number of under-insured and uninsured Americans to increase. We already have the most expensive healthcare system in the world, and this will only make things worse.
The stock market is down over 1% for the second day this week. I expect this trend to continue unless they can reach some kind of agreement to end the shutdown. With Thanksgiving less than 3 weeks away, I would expect to see this thing end before then. I don’t want to guess what will happen if it goes beyond that. It will be difficult to pick the end date. But I’m sure that the people in government, who have advanced notice, will be the ones who benefit. Any time the rest of us try to time an investment, it usually goes badly.