Millette Haas, a Florida resident who is in cancer treatment, is concerned that Affordable Care Act tax credits may be going away.
“Those tax credits saved me total $3,000 out-of-pocket I don't have to pay and I'm on a fixed income,” she said.
People who buy insurance through the marketplace, sometimes called Obama Care, could soon see a significant increase in their premiums. That’s because COVID-era Affordable Care Act tax credits are set to expire this year.
Almost five million Floridians are enrolled in the ACA, the most out of any state in the country. Scott Darius, executive director of Florida Voices for Health, says the tax credits help over two million middle-class Floridians afford insurance.
“For people making between 100% and 400% (the poverty level), what we would generally consider as middle class, for those folks to be able to afford coverage based on some of the premiums that we were seeing. And you know the fact that these folks are earning a very specific amount, depending on your family size, those tax credits were assistance to help pay for your monthly premiums and other out of pocket costs,” he said.
Florida Voices For Health isn’t the only group pushing for renewal of the tax credits. Florida Conservatives for Affordable Healthcare also wants them to stay in place.
“When I was in DC, lobbying, we opposed Obamacare. However, this is a portion of Obamacare that I think the Affordable Care Act that is working.”
Brewster Bevis, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida. He said at an event for FCAH that the credits help keep many Florida workers who make too much to qualify for Medicaid on health insurance. If the enhanced credits aren’t renewed, he thinks rising costs could mean some people won’t be able to afford their plans.
“Your health care right now is where it's at, your premium is where it's at because of this. If this goes away, you're going to see an increased cost in your health insurance. And you know, I think one of the fears for us and others is they're not going to sit there and blame the federal government because they don't know they're on it. They're going to probably blame potentially, their health plan of, oh, you greedy health plans are increasing your costs. Well, that's not the case,” he said.
With the enhanced tax credits set to expire, Healthcare companies operating in Florida have already announced projected rate increases. Those increases range from 40 percent to 8.73 percent. In their justification documents, the credits not being renewed is frequently cited as a reason.
But it won’t just impact individuals, but also Florida’s hospital system. Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, says programs like the tax credits are important for Florida hospitals too. She’s urging lawmakers to view the tax credits through a pro-business lens.
“How do you help individuals stay employed, be able to afford commercial health insurance that also reimburses health care providers at commercial health insurance rates that is far above what providers like hospitals and physicians get from Medicaid or even Medicare,” she said. “Republicans need to look at the federal marketplace as absolutely embodying their philosophy, supporting small businesses, supporting individuals to work, supporting economic mobility.”
Haas believes politicians in Congress should recognize that letting the credits expire would negatively impact their constituents.
“You're impacting the middle class and all these people that are on healthcare.gov they're on there because they need help, and we need insurance in this country,” she said.
Darius isn’t optimistic Congress will follow the urging of his and other groups.
“It feels like the likeliest vehicle to have gotten this done would have been the one Big Beautiful Bill, but it didn't. And so, while there are rumblings, I'm not terribly optimistic that this is something that'll happen before the end of the year,” he said.
Congress has until the end of the year to renew them.