As the government shutdown continues, Democrats are demanding that Republicans make the pandemic-era “Obamacare COVID credits” permanent as their price for reopening the government.

Romina Boccia, Cato Institute’s Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy, has published a new analysis highlighting that pandemic-era expansions quadrupled high-income enrollment, as total enrollment has more than doubled, as seen in the figure below.

“These partisan subsidies—passed without a single Republican vote—now make households earning up to $600,000 a year eligible for taxpayer-funded health insurance,” Boccia writes. “Permanently extending Obamacare’s enhanced premium tax credits would entrench this subsidy that funnels health care benefits to the affluent.”

If you would like to speak with Boccia, please reach out to Cato PR: pr@​cato.​org.