MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – The key issue at the core of the government shutdown—health care premiums—is about to get real for millions of Americans, including tens of thousands of Vermont families.
With a key pandemic-era tax credit in the Affordable Care Act due to expire, what they pay for health care could skyrocket.
This comes as open enrollment on Vermont’s health care marketplace begins Saturday.
About 27,000 Vermonters and small businesses buy insurance plans through the state health exchange.
Extended pandemic-era subsidies could be coming to an end, and leaders are bracing for the financial impact.
Saturday marks the beginning of open enrollment on Vermont’s health exchange, and some will be greeted with sticker shock.
Olivia Campbell and Eric Anderson own a pizza shop and flower farm in Central Vermont and buy their own health insurance.
They say if the COVID-era subsidies of the American Care Act expire, their monthly premiums would double from $1,300 to $2,600, decimating their business.
“It is like the rug has been pulled out from under us, and you cannot get a fourth job to pay for that,” said Campbell.
There are also real health implications for families.
Earlier this year, we introduced you to U-32 senior Lei Degroot, who spent six months in the hospital battling a rare form of leukemia.
His team held a blood drive in support, but his treatment was not cheap.
The final bill was just shy of two million dollars, and without insurance coverage, his family says they would be left with no options.
“We would be selling our house, liquidating whatever we saved for retirement, and it would not come even close to what we would owe,” said Allison Mindel of Worcester.
The looming subsidy cliff is heavy on the mind of hospital leaders.
Worried people will forego care and show up sicker, which will be uncompensated, taking a toll on hospital budgets and driving up costs for all healthcare users.
“The expiration of these tax credits is not just a budget issue; it is a public health crisis in the making,” said Dr. Ryan Clouser from Central Vermont Medical Center.
The looming health care cliff comes as Democrats and Republicans in Congress remain at a political stalemate over funding the government.
Senator Peter Welch, who has held out support for opening the government until health insurance is extended, says the issue should not be political.
“It is about families; there are a lot of folks out there of all kinds of political persuasions who have gotten ill and have needed healthcare,” said Welch.
Healthcare consequences for Vermonters as the shutdown struggle intensifies by the day.
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