Is Obamacare doomed without extended subsidies?

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  NPR.

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  We're about a month into the government shutdown and lawmakers are still at an impasse over health insurance subsidies.

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  Democrats say they won't vote to reopen the government unless Republicans agree to extend subsidies for people who get health insurance through Obamacare,

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  aka the Affordable Care Act.

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  And if these subsidies expire at the end of the year,

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  millions of Americans could see the amount they pay for premiums double or more.

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  That's according to the nonpartisan health policy think tank KFF.

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  And this could just be the start of a cascade of consequences.

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  Theoretically speaking,

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  a big price hike like this could even lead to something called an adverse selection death spiral.

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  How's that for spooky season econ terminology?

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  This is the indicator from Planet Money.

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  I'm Adrian Ma.

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  And I'm Darian Woods.

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  Today on the show,

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  we explain why the specter of a death spiral has haunted Obamacare ever since it began.

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  And we ask if Congress lets these Obamacare subsidies expire, could a death spiral be in its future?

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  I Want It That Way was a Backstreet Boys banger, but was it also a secret economics lesson?

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  If you watch the music video,

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  you can really see an illustration of the concept of comparative advantage.

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