The economy for many Coloradans, like Northglenn resident Aubrey Hix, is tough these days.
“My utilities have gone up, homeowners' insurance has gone up, auto insurance has gone up,” said Hix as she sat on her back deck with her dog Rooney. "It's all costing more. And this is just one more thing.”
The “this” she referred to is the health insurance coverage she buys through the state’s marketplace, Connect for Health Colorado.
Hix is an independent contractor in public relations. Her income is high enough she does not qualify for tax credits, which are at the heart of the spending fight that’s led the federal government to shut down.
But she said she recently learned that even though she’s not depending on the subsidies, her health insurance costs could still skyrocket.
Hix said she pays $450 a month for a Cigna plan.
State leaders have been warning health insurance costs could skyrocket.
Hix thinks her premium could rise sharply, perhaps doubling to about $900 a month. “If we just round that up to $500 (more a month), that's $6,000 a year,” said Hix, who is 41. “I don't have another $6,000 a year.”
Hix said having access to affordable health care allowed her to depart a corporate position to try her luck as a consultant. She said for herself and her husband, who deals with a chronic health condition, their total health costs were in the $30,000 range.
People who don’t get insurance through an employer or a public program like Medicaid or Medicare are able to purchase health care insurance plans on the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, marketplaces.
Enhanced tax credits, funded by the government since 2021, help people afford to pay for those insurance premiums. They expire at the end of the year.
Last week, Senate Democrats refused to vote for a Republican short-term funding bill that didn’t include a renewal of the tax credits.
About a quarter of a million Coloradans rely on the subsidies to help cover their health insurance costs, and about half of them, roughly 112,000, are expected to lose coverage all altogether, according to the exchange.
Impact of tax credits expiring expected to ripple through entire health system
Even those who don't receive tax credits to pay for health insurance are expected to see their premiums rise, potentially dramatically.
The trouble is that when tax subsidies expire, it can drive up everyone’s costs, having a ripple effect throughout the health care system.
When the tax credits expire, millions of Americans who get financial assistance will see monthly health insurance premium costs shoot up. Some will say, “I can’t afford this,” and simply drop out of the marketplace for insurance. As healthier people leave it, the larger overall pool of those who are insured gets less healthy. And that in turn forces up the cost of premiums for everybody.
That includes even those, like Hix, not getting a tax credit.
Hix heard about the coming premium spike at a recent community discussion held by Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat who represents the state’s Sixth Congressional District.
“I didn't know about it until I was at this event last week,” said Hix, who said she’s a registered independent. “So I was really kind of just like, ‘la la la, they'll figure it out.’ We've had government shutdowns before; it'll be fine.”
But after learning about the hike she and many others are now facing, she’s hoping Congress will renew those tax credits.
“I'm really disappointed. This is something that's helping a significant amount of constituents in the state and across the country,” Hix said.
Kevin Patterson, CEO of Connect for Health Colorado, said marketplace customers will start getting renewal notices in a couple of weeks.
“Those notices going out and the big jump in folks' premiums is gonna be a shock to a lot of families. And that's the thing that we are seriously concerned about right now,” Patterson said. “They're gonna look at that number (the premium increase) and be like, ‘who do I yell at?’”
He urges customers shopping for insurance on the marketplace to look at a variety of plans.
“I think it is so imperative for people to shop, because it's just a very different landscape than what they were shopping for last open enrollment,” Patterson said. “So I think it's critical for people to shop this year.”
Open enrollment for health insurance starts Nov. 1.
House Republicans won’t give in to Democrats’ push for federal policy changes on health care, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said Thursday.
"Don't ask the Republicans what we should be doing or what we should be negotiating. I don't have anything to negotiate. I sent them, in good faith, exactly what they voted for before," Johnson told reporters.
"We did not put any Republican provisions in that, and we tried to make this very simple, in good faith, so the appropriations process of the people can continue."
Republicans have argued Democrats want to provide health care for illegal immigrants, a claim Democrats call a lie. GOP lawmakers have also said Democrats want to ditch a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals and that there’s still time to negotiate on the ACA subsidies, points Democrats also say is not correct.
Hix said she repeated that to the lawmaker representing her district, Eighth District Rep. Gabe Evans, Republican.
His office responded to her with a statement.
“It’s unfortunate to see my colleagues across the aisle play political games with American livelihoods on the line and placing blame on Republicans when together — Republicans and Democrats — have successfully passed several budget-related bills on a bipartisan basis, effectively averting this in the past,” the statement said.
“Government shutdowns cause real harm to our military, mom-and-pop shops, and vulnerable members of our communities. Instead of prioritizing the American people — to avoid this harm — Democrats are choosing to hold government funding hostage over a $1.5 trillion partisan wish list, including free healthcare for illegal immigrants,” Evans wrote. ‘This reckless, unserious legislating proves Democrats would push a partisan spending spree to shut down the government instead of working in a bipartisan fashion to keep the government open.”
Hix said she’d simply like the two sides to fix it and renew the credits.
“I am not an illegal immigrant. I am a person who has degrees and has contributed to society and has tried to pursue the American dream here and be entrepreneurial,” she said. “And this (being able to buy affordable health care) has been a wonderful tool in my toolkit to be able to try and do that. Facing the potential that it doubles in cost is pretty daunting.”
Polling shows strong support for renewing tax credits, though the public is still unaware of the fight
New national polling shows strong support for extending the subsidies, according to a tracking poll from KFF, an independent nonprofit news organization focused on health policy.
In a poll published Friday, three out of four adults said Congress should extend the enhanced tax credits for people who buy their own insurance through ACA Marketplaces, like the one in Colorado, which is called Connect for Health Colorado. That figure is triple the share who back Congress allowed the subsidies to end.
The idea has support across the political spectrum, including nine in 10 (92 percent) Democrats, eight in 10 (82 percent) independents, and six in 10 (59 percent) Republicans.
Most Republicans who align with the MAGA movement (57 percent) too say Congress should renew the credits.
Still, the political showdown has yet to break through for many Americans. Most (61 percent) said they’d heard little or nothing about the enhanced subsidies for those who buy health coverage on ACA Marketplaces.
