Affordable Care Act premiums are set to spike. A new poll shows enrollees are already struggling
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fifty-two-year-old Dinam Bigny is in debt, in part because of health insurance premiums that cost nearly $900 a month, and has had to find a roommate this year.
Next year, these monthly fees will increase by $200; A significant enough increase that the program manager at Aldie, Virginia, was willing to find cheaper coverage.
“I can’t pay this because I’ve literally used up all the savings I have right now,” he said. “The emergency fund is still running out; that’s the scary part.”
Bigny is among the many Americans who depend on Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance plans and are already struggling with health problems. high cost of healthcareaccordingly a new survey from the health research nonprofit KFF.
Most of the more than 1,300 enrollees surveyed in early November say they anticipate healthcare costs will rise. will be affected next year If the congress is not extended COVID-era tax credits expire This helps more than 90% of enrollees pay their health insurance premiums, per KFF. Possibility of extension It’s looking increasingly unlikely..
Enhanced premium tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of this year, have been at the center of recent tensions in Congress, with Democrats calling for a direct extension and some Republican lawmakers strongly opposing the idea. Inability to agree on a way forward It led to a record 43-day government shutdown early this fall.
President Donald Trump and some Republicans in Congress Proposals to short-term extension or reform of the Affordable Care Act have been floated in recent weeks, but no plan has emerged as a clear winner. Meanwhile, the window for Americans to shop for next year’s plans is well underway with less than a month until subsidies expire.
KFF’s survey finds that market enrollees, most of whom say they would be directly affected by the end of subsidies, overwhelmingly support the extension. The poll found that this group is more likely to blame Trump and congressional Republicans than Democrats if the tax credits are allowed to expire.
Enrollees already find it difficult to cover healthcare costs
Expiration of tax credits, as determined by a separate KFF analysis more than twice Monthly payments for the average subsidized enrollee — come as Americans are already reeling under high healthcare expenses, the survey finds.
Nearly 6 in 10 Affordable Care Act enrollees find it “somewhat” or “very” difficult to cover out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and co-pays for medical care. This number exceeds about half of enrollees who find it difficult to afford health insurance premiums. Most say they cannot afford a $300 annual increase in health insurance costs without significantly disrupting their household finances.
The population of Americans with Affordable Care Act health insurance includes some high-earning entrepreneurs and small business owners, but the majority of enrollees are low-income and thus vulnerable to even small increases in health costs, said Cynthia Cox, KFF vice president who leads the organization’s ACA research.
“These will often be people living paycheck to paycheck, but also people with variable or unpredictable incomes,” he said. “The increases that many are facing will be a form of financial hardship for them.”
Many enrollees see cost increases on the horizon
Just over half of Affordable Care Act enrollees believe health insurance costs will rise “much more than usual” next year, according to the survey. Approximately 4 in 10 people predict that the increases will be “a little more than usual” or “about the same as usual.”
Larry Griffin, a 56-year-old investment banker and financial advisor who lives in Paso Robles, Calif., already pays $920 a month for his gold health plan through the state’s insurance marketplace. He says the price will rise to about $1,400 a month next year; as well as increases in co-pays and the annual out-of-pocket maximum.
He worries the increases will affect his ability to save for his upcoming retirement, but he said he can’t risk losing his health insurance or dropping his plan because of the recent amputation of his left leg below the knee and other health problems.
Griffin is among roughly three-quarters of the market’s enrollees who say health insurance is “very important” to accessing the health care they need.
“I’m not going to say I can’t do it, I can do it, but it’s another one of those things,” he said. “There, after everything I’ve had to deal with, hit number 5,000 against me.”
Patricia Roberts, 52, a full-time caregiver for her daughter in Auburn, Alabama, expects her monthly health insurance premiums to rise from about $800 a month to $1,100 next year; He can cover these costs himself. But their friends across the border in Georgia are considering doubling monthly fees next year.
“I don’t know how people are going to live, we’re already having a hard time just paying for food and other things,” Roberts said.
Extension support extends to political parties
The survey shows that allowing enhanced tax credits to expire would be largely unpopular with current market enrollees.
Support for continuing tax credits cuts across party lines. Nearly all Democrats and nearly 8 in 10 independents enrolled in market plans say the loans should be extended, as do 7 in 10 Republicans. Support is similarly high among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who support the MAGA movement and among those who do not.
Yvette Laugier, 56, a Republican from Chicago, said that although her income is too high to qualify her for the enhanced premium tax credits, she supports temporarily extending those credits with additional fraud protections to give low-income enrollees more time to consider their options.
Among those who think Congress should extend the credits, nearly 4 in 10 say Trump would deserve “most of the blame” if the credits are allowed to expire, and roughly a third say the same about Republicans in Congress. Democrats in Congress are much less likely to be blamed: Only 23% of those registered say they deserve the bulk of the blame.
Bigny in Virginia said blame should be apportioned among both Democrats and Republicans. But he hopes they can reach a compromise in the coming weeks and potentially reach a temporary extension.
“They should sit down and really look for what’s best for Americans,” he said.
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Swenson reported from New York.
