Breaking down the Affordable Care Act: How it works and why it's so costly

"Democrats argue that without these subsidies, the cost to buy these policies is going to skyrocket. Republicans say the Affordable Care Act isn't doing anything about runaway health costs, but they insist they will talk about this once Democrats agree to support the Republican spending bill. But that invites the question of why so many people need a subsidy from the government to afford health insurance to begin with,"

"Well, the problem was about 45 million uninsured Americans, many of them working at relatively low-paying jobs where the employer could not afford to offer health insurance. Some of them disabled. Some of them just out of the system or not understanding how to get health insurance 'cause it was complicated. That constituted, when we passed the ACA, 18% of the population."

The government remains shut down while lawmakers fight over extending healthcare subsidies. Democrats warn that removing subsidies will cause policy costs to skyrocket, while Republicans contend cost issues should be addressed later. Many people obtain insurance through employers, Medicare, or Medicaid, yet about 45 million Americans remained uninsured prior to the ACA. Many uninsured worked low-paying jobs whose employers could not afford to offer insurance; others were disabled or had difficulty navigating the system. When the ACA passed, the uninsured constituted 18% of the population. Health care costs rose nearly 7% annually from 2000 to 2009.

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