The Washington Free Beacon's Ellison Barber appeared on Fox News to discuss new rises in insurance premiums, and how they will affect people who enrolled in insurance through Healthcare.gov.
Although premiums typically rise, Barber explained, people may not realize that their subsidies have also changed at the same time, leaving them open to unexpected charges at the end of the year. "Say you saw that your plan was increasing and you were in one of those states, Virginia or Maryland, you thought, 'okay well I see that my plan is increasing, but I have a 20% subsidy, so that's fine. I like my plan, so I'll just keep it and pay maybe a little more.' But the problem is, if you're basing that on what your percentage now is for your subsidy, then that wouldn't be accurate."
"Otherwise the IRS is going to bill you at end of the year, and say either you paid too much or you paid too little. And you're going to owe them money, or maybe if you're lucky you'll get a check back."