For months we’ve been hearing about the coming ObamaCare crisis when temporary government-enhanced subsidies expire on December 31^st. Democrats shut down the government for a record 42 days mostly because of this issue. They demanded extension of the subsidies for at least three more years lest millions of Americans lose their healthcare coverage. In typical melodramatic fashion, some Democrats claimed “people will die” if the subsidies aren’t extended.

But the crisis never happened. The Wall Street Journal editorial board reported last week, “ObamaCare’s annual open enrollment ended Thursday, and what do you know? The media-fueled panic over the expiration of the pandemic-era enhanced subsidies turned out to be a false alarm.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported last week that 22.8 million Americans have signed up for ObamaCare plans as of January 3. That’s down from 24.2 million last year. People could still sign up for plans on the federal exchange through Thursday, and some states have extended their open enrollment through the end of the month.

But even if there are few new sign-ups, enrollment is still running higher than it was in 2024—when the sweetened subsidies were available. The 1.4 million decline in sign-ups compared to 2025 enrollment is also less than was predicted. The left-leaning Urban Institute projected that ObamaCare’s subsidized enrollment would drop by 7.3 million.

The Congressional Budget Office’s ObamaCare baseline in 2024 assumed 18.9 million people would enroll in plans this year if the enhanced subsidies vanished. The budget gnomes have repeatedly underestimated ObamaCare enrollment and spending; they need to rework their models. Looks like everybody got it wrong.

 Like Chicken Little, who said the sky is falling, Democrats wanted us to believe that apart from the extension of the subsidies, nobody could afford to pay the ObamaCare premiums. This is particularly rich coming from the same people who promised us ObamaCare would save every American family at least $2500 per year. Remember President Obama’s promises? He also promised “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” That was another lie.

One reason forecasts may have missed the mark is that they overlook that most enrollees still won’t have to pay all that much for their plans. The Paragon Health Institute estimates that an average enrollee making 150% of the poverty line ($23,475 for an individual) will be expected to pay only $14 a week.

An enrollee earning 250% of the poverty line ($39,125) would have to pay more, but still only $52 a week. Keep in mind that the income thresholds that determine subsidy amounts—which decline as incomes increase—don’t include government benefits like food stamps, welfare and disability payments and the child tax credit.

The Administration says sign-ups declined this year mainly because of measures it took to crack down on fraud. Paragon’s Brian Blase calculates that about 12 million ObamaCare enrollees in 2024 had no medical claims, suggesting they may have been enrolled in plans without their knowledge. Fraud may also explain why enrollment hasn’t fallen more.

The WSJ editors say, “The Democratic ObamaCare scare campaign has turned out to be a false and partisan alarm. Republicans who still fall for it now that the reality is clear deserve to be in the minority.”

The truth is ObamaCare is a train wreck that will only get worse the more politicians prop it up with more money. It has never lived up to the hype Democrats pushed when they passed it in 2010 under President Obama. It’s time to fix the problem with new ideas, not just more money.

There is no doubt that ObamaCare has lived up to the prediction it would be a “train wreck.” This was the assessment of Democratic Senator Max Baucus (D- Montana), then Chairman of Senate Finance Committee, speaking to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebellius on 4/17/13. But Democrats didn’t listen to his warning and implemented the Affordable Care Act in 2014.

Democrats are determined to throw good money after bad by extending temporary government subsidies another three years and eventually making them permanent. Rather than fix the problem they made, they want to use the issue as a cudgel to force Republicans into prolonging the misery lest they be accused of taking away people’s healthcare.

The real solution to a bad policy is to make a good policy. Republicans have been reluctant to take on this task in the wake of their failure during the first Trump administration thanks to rogue Republican Senator John McCain. But the adults in the room have to take leadership at some point and improve or discard this failed healthcare system.

Fortunately, there is some reason for optimism as Republican leadership is now showing interest in improving ObamaCare. This won’t be pretty as Republicans face complete opposition from any Democrats and even a few Republicans. Expect this debate to continue throughout the coming year.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board says, “The GOP bill would make it easier for small businesses to escape the ObamaCare regulatory morass. The bill would expand so-called association health plans that let small employers unite to sponsor group health plans. These plans would reduce premiums by expanding risk pools and give small employers more leverage with insurers. 

The plans wouldn’t have to adhere to many costly ObamaCare rules, though they still couldn’t charge more for workers with pre-existing health conditions. Worker premiums for association plans would likely be lower than for ObamaCare plans. Workers might also see an increase in take-home pay if their employer’s insurance costs fall.”

The Republican bill also seeks to reduce ObamaCare premiums by fixing a distortion caused by the law’s convoluted design. ObamaCare requires insurers to reduce deductibles and co-pays for low-income enrollees in benchmark silver plans. No surprise, insurers have raised premiums for these silver plans to offset the cost of these “cost-sharing” reductions.

Because ObamaCare subsidies are pegged to premiums for silver plans, the cost-sharing mandate has resulted in larger subsidies for all plans. The GOP bill would appropriate funds to insurers to pay for ObamaCare’s required cost-sharing reductions. This would reduce premiums for silver plans and, in turn, taxpayer spending on subsidies. A better solution would be to eliminate the cost-sharing mandate, which can make ObamaCare plans more attractive than employer plans for lower-income enrollees.

The Census Bureau’s annual survey of insurance coverage this year showed that the share of Americans with any coverage hasn’t changed since 2019 despite the larger ObamaCare subsidies. Enrollment in employer plans has declined but government and ObamaCare coverage has increased. This trend is exactly what Democrats want as they seek to eventually have all Americans on government-controlled health insurance. This is socialized medicine by another name.

Some of the increase in ObamaCare enrollment owes to fraud, as the Paragon Health Institute has documented and the Government Accountability Office recently corroborated. Millions of people have under-reported their incomes to qualify for bigger subsidies, while brokers enroll people in plans without their knowledge to earn bigger commissions.

The GOP may not succeed anytime soon in reversing the damage of ObamaCare, but it is important they show the American people which party is really looking out for what’s best for their healthcare.

It’s that time of the year, again. Time to review the books I’ve read this past year. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I first started making a New Year’s resolution to read at least two books a month in 1998.

Since 1998, I’ve read 1110 books! This discipline of reading more books and watching less television has made me more knowledgeable of the world we live in and given me much more lasting pleasure than another episode of Law and Order.

Here are my top ten books for 2025, not necessarily in order and not necessarily newly published books:

1. Life After Power – Jared Cohen – This recently published book discusses the lives of several presidents after they left office. The author discusses seven presidents – Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush. This is an excellent book and you’ll learn much about these men you never knew before.
2. Confronting the Presidents – Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard – This team of historians does a great job of giving us brief biographies of all the U.S. presidents. A must read for all history buffs.
3. A Golfer’s Life – Arnold Palmer – This is an old book I got out and read again with much delight. If you’re an Arnold Palmer fan like me, you’ve got to read this autobiographical work by the King of golf.
4. Great Souls – David Aikman – This is another old book I got out and read for the third time! It’s one of the truly great books I’ve ever read. You’ll read about six individuals who Aikman says “changed the twentieth century.” They include Billy Graham, Nelson Mandella, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Elie Wiesel. It’s still available on Amazon.
5. The Story of God and Us – Jonathan Murphy – Jonathan Murphy is the new pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas and the hand-picked successor of Chuck Swindoll to the church he founded. This book is a great review of the bible intended for those unfamiliar with its contents but equally valuable for reading by long-time bible teachers like me.
6. Looking in All the Right Directions – Chuck Swindoll – This small book recently published gives us the last five sermons of Pastor Swindoll focused on the book of II Timothy. The last words of the Apostle Paul are preached by this great preacher in his last words from the pulpit.

7. The Disappeared – C. J. Box – Another great book from this brilliant author of dramatic fiction based on the character of Joe Pickett, game warden in Wyoming. If you’re not a Joe Pickett fan yet, you will be if you read any of Box’s books.
8. Revenge Tour – Mike Lupica (Robert Parker characters) – If you loved Robert Parker’s books, Lupica does a great job of continuing the deceased author’s success. This one is about Sunny Randall; lady detective closely associated with the characters of the infamous Spenser.
9. The Waiting – Michael Connelly – Another great book by one of the best fiction writers of our time. This one is about Rene Ballard; lady detective closely associated with the characters of the very successful Harry Bosch series.
10. Reagan – Max Boot – I hesitate to include this book on the list, but it was recently published and is a biography of one of our greatest presidents. But you won’t get that impression from reading this book. This author clearly never voted for Reagan.

That’s it for this year. I hope you’ll enjoy these books but the most important thing is that you read more books. You’ll be glad you did.

Happy New Year!