Some Central Floridians are starting to learn how much more they’ll soon be expected to pay for health insurance, once Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the end of this year.
Those “enhanced premium tax credits” make monthly healthcare payments more affordable for eligible households. But the credits weren’t included in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted earlier this year. Now, with the ongoing federal government shutdown poised to become the longest in history, Democratic lawmakers say they won’t pass a budget that doesn't restore the ACA tax credits.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers blame Democrats for keeping the government closed.
RELATED: Here's how ACA tax credits expiring and Medicaid cuts could impact Floridians
In Florida, more than 4.7 million people are enrolled in ACA healthcare plans — more than in any other state. Of those Floridians enrolled in ACA plans, about 1.4 million — or 30% — are expected to be priced out of healthcare coverage completely without the tax credits, according to the nonprofit coalition Florida Voices for Health.
Others will likely face tough decisions about what else to sacrifice in order to afford healthcare coverage. Orlando resident Nathan Boye is a father of three who lives with diabetes. He shared his concerns about the expiring tax credits at a press conference Monday at Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost’s district office in Orlando.
Right now, Boye said he pays $28 a month for his ACA healthcare plan. That amount covers 90% of the medications he needs to stay healthy. But just a few days ago, Boye received a letter from his health insurer stating that his monthly premium will soon go up to $733.
“Unless something changes, I'm going to be forced to make impossible choices,” Boye said. “No family should have to face that. … We deserve a system where staying healthy is not a luxury.”
Eric Rollings, another Orlando resident, said he’s concerned about what healthcare will cost soon without the tax credits. Rollings said he relies on several different medications since receiving a heart stent.
“It's an essential medication, and (an) 80-day supply without insurance is $2,600.99. So I don't have an option to be without healthcare. And that's just one medication,” Rollings said.
Rollings said he recently paid about $580 for his health insurance plan, but that next time, he’ll be paying more than $1,200 — a 113% increase, for basically the same plan.
“I think that this is a really insane and hurtful increase,” Rolling said. “There are a lot of people that are dealing with things way worse than what I'm going through — with cancers, with pediatric cancer. All these people are not going to have coverage if they can't pay their insurance.”
In Frost’s Orange County district, about 189,000 people are expected to see their healthcare costs go up. More than 76,000 will be priced out of health coverage entirely, according to a report by Democratic members of the House Committee on the Budget.
Frost said Republicans will also be affected by the skyrocketing healthcare costs. Last month, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia broke with her party, saying she thinks the ACA tax credits should be renewed.
“Why did she say that? Because her own kids received the letter and she saw what it means for her constituents,” Frost said Monday. “This is what's going on across the entire country. … We hope more [Republican lawmakers] will come around.”
Trump recently urged Republican senators to use a “nuclear option” to reopen the federal government: by terminating the filibuster, a tool the Senate can use to delay or block votes on legislation by denying the 60 votes needed to end debate. Ending the filibuster would allow Senate Republicans to pass a budget without needing Democratic votes.
Frost said Monday he was “very glad” to see Trump calling attention to the fact that, ultimately, reopening the government doesn’t require votes from Democratic lawmakers.
“If they (Republicans) want to do the nuclear option, do it. They won't, because they want complicity. They want our votes,” Frost said. “They're not going to get them. The only way they'll get our votes is if we extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, and we ensure that people have the healthcare that they need.”
