Will Employers Stop Offering Health Insurance? Expanded ACA Subsidies Leave Most Workers Better Off if They Do
Congress is considering renewing an expansion of the Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC), which provides federal subsidies for households to buy health insurance from the individual market.
Individuals are ineligible for APTC subsidies if their employers offer them tax-exempt health-insurance benefits. Without expanded subsidies, most workers are better off if they are offered employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). With expanded subsidies, they’re better off if they are not.
The average value of APTC subsidies was originally designed to be worth 5% less to workers than the ESI tax exemption, in order to maintain incentives for employers to provide health-care benefits. But the expanded subsidies average 65% more than the value of the ESI tax exemption.
If all employers stopped offering health-care coverage to workers, to allow them to claim these expanded subsidies, it would increase the cost to the federal budget by $250 billion per year.
The employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) tax exemption has made employers the main purchasers of health insurance for American workers and their families.
Employers can avoid taxes of up to 54% by compensating workers—as well as their spouses and dependent children—with health-insurance benefits rather than cash.[1] As a result, 89% of privately financed health insurance was purchased by employers in 2023.[2]
The ESI tax exemption has long appealed to politicians of both parties. In the three decades following World War II, it encouraged the rapid expansion of health-insurance coverage to 70% of non-elderly Americans.
[3] This protected millions of Americans from financial disaster associated with illness, improved their access to health care, and helped finance the expansion and development of medical facilities—all without increasing the cost of government, creating disincentives to work, or politicizing the details of medical payment.[4] Legislators saw tax preferences as a cheaper alternative to full public financing of regressive insurance benefits.[5]…
‘STOP THE SCAMS!’ Trump announces new office in DOJ dedicated to investigating fraud
With more and more fraud being investigated and exposed across the country, the Trump administration has created a new office specially dedicated to prosecuting these types of crimes.
On Wednesday night, President Trump announced the creation of the office and his nominee to run it.
“I am pleased to nominate Colin McDonald to serve as the first ever Assistant Attorney General for National FRAUD Enforcement, a new Division at the Department of Justice, which I created to catch and stop FRAUDSTERS that have been STEALING from the American People,” Trump said on Truth Social. “My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars.”
Trump called McDonald a “very Smart, Tough, and Highly Respected AMERICA FIRST Federal Prosecutor” and promised that the administration would “RESTORE INTEGRITY” to the federal programs.
“STOP THE SCAMS!” Trump concluded.
McDonald, though not a well-known figure on the national stage, has a resume built for the new position.
For example, McDonald successfully prosecuted a large-scale conspiracy in 2020 that the judge in the case called “staggering in its breadth, its scope, and its audacity.”…
SoCal stripper accused of decapitating her boyfriend captured in Mexico
A California stripper, accused of decapitating her boyfriend and leaving his headless body inside her home, has been extradited from Mexico.
Alyssa Marie Lira, 23, is back in Southern California after her capture in Mexico — nearly five months after she allegedly decapitated 55-year-old Enrique Gonzalez-Carbajal.
The couple had been dating for about two months and met while she was working as an exotic dancer at a local strip club, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Local police worked with the FBI and Mexican officials to locate and apprehend the 23-year-old.
Lira taken into custody Jan. 22 and turned over to Anaheim police homicide detectives the next day at the San Ysidro Port of Entry….
Top Oklahoma Democrat forced to resign after trying to pay Ethics Commission with a forged check
Rep. Ajay Pittman, whose district includes part of Oklahoma City, announced her resignation Wednesday after pleading guilty to a felony charge related to the forged check. She was in her fourth term.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said that part of the sentence for Pittman included her resigning from her office.
“I believe stepping aside allows my district to be served without distraction,” Pittman said. “Leadership is not only about holding office, but it’s also about knowing when to close a chapter with grace and clarity.”
Pittman was accused of violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act in relation to campaign finance records, as well as forgery and embezzlement. Investigators searched Pittman’s office in October.
Drummond said that she forged a check to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission to avoid paying back funds to her campaign account….
The media’s Alex Pretti narrative just got WRECKED?!
New footage allegedly shows Alex Pretti, just days before he was killed during a confrontation with ICE officers.
Glenn Beck argues that it completely debunks the media’s narrative that he was just a peaceful bystander who would never do any harm.
Don’t defund DHS; end sanctuary city policies: Sen. Marsha Blackburn | Newsline
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn slammed Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats’ threats to defund DHS on Thursday’s “Newsline,” and called for local law enforcement cooperation against crime in sanctuary cities.
Illinois Quick Hits: Man charged with threatening ICE agents
Prosecutors say Jeffrey A. Mullinix, 67, of Troy stated in a YouTube video comment on Jan. 21 that he was on his way to Minneapolis with weapons, had prior military experience and would knock out at least 50 of the agents.
Law enforcement interviewed Mullinix at his residence the next day and seized two rifles.
The FBI Springfield Field Office is leading the investigation.
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY DAY
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs is encouraging people to visit the state’s missing money website ahead of National Unclaimed Property Day on Sunday.
Frerichs said an estimated one in four adults who check the treasurer’s Icash site discover they have missing money or other unclaimed property….
Iran threatens to strike Tel Aviv; EU Designates IRGC a terrorist Organization TV7 Israel – 29 Jan.
1) The United States views the Islamic Republic of Iran at its weakest point since the 1979 Islamic Resolution – noting that its ability to rebound from public dissent is non-existent.
2) Iran’s top national security advisor threatens to strike Tel Aviv if the United States launches an attack on the Islamic Republic.
3) The European Union designates the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Senator Ron Johnson on The Sean Spicer Show 1.28.26
Officer clings to life after homicide suspect allegedly unloads gun on police during high-risk arrest
A Texas police officer is in critical condition after being shot in the head by a homicide suspect earlier this week.
The incident unfolded just after 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 23, when officers with the Corpus Christi Police Department responded to a shooting in the 4900 block of Ayers Street, located approximately 145 miles from San Antonio, according to FOX 4.
When authorities arrived, they reportedly located a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The individual was taken to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Less than an hour later, officers located the suspect’s vehicle in a nearby area and attempted to conduct a traffic stop, FOX 4 reported.
However, authorities say the 38-year-old suspect pulled out a handgun and began firing on the three officers.
Two officers were reportedly struck as they exchanged gunfire with the suspect. A third officer also sustained injuries after being struck by shrapnel.
“Officer (Alexandria) Cano-Castro, a 36-year-old senior officer, was shot in the head while attempting to apprehend a homicide suspect,” Constable Mark Herman’s Office in Harris County said.
The homicide suspect was shot multiple times in the exchange and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remains in custody and is expected to survive. …
7 Republicans join Dems to block major government funding package as shutdown looms
Senate Democrats stayed true to their threat by blocking a behemoth funding package, but in a surprising turn of events, they were joined by several Senate Republicans to derail the legislation.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus made it no secret that they would obstruct the government funding process over the last several days, demanding that Republicans strip the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill from the six-bill package.
But the defection of seven GOP lawmakers – Sens. Ted Budd, R-N.C., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Mike Lee, R- Utah, Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. – was an unexpected development on Thursday.
Senate Democrats are willing to support the five other bills in the package, however, and have reiterated that bundle would easily pass if given the chance.
“Democrats are ready to avert a shutdown,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“We have five bills we all agree on. About 95% of the remaining budget. It is ready to go,” she continued. “We can pass those five bills, no problem. All Leader Thune has to do is tee them up for a vote.”
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., sought to call their bluff and barreled forward with the key test vote, which would have opened up several hours of debate and eventually a final vote to send the package to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Ahead of the vote, Thune said he hoped that conversations between the White House and Senate Democrats would produce the “the votes that are necessary to get it passed.”
Thune threw cold water on Senate Democrats’ several demands for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) making their way into the current package, too. …
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