Posted on 11/19/2025 7:00:28 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin woman who gets her health insurance through the Affordable Care Act says she’s bracing for next year — when tax credits expire.
“This is going to hurt our family,” Shana Verstegen, a Madison fitness instructor, log roller, and mother, told News 3 Now Tuesday.
Like log rolling, raising a family requires a lot of risk. “We have two young boys and don't feel good about not having health insurance with the two boys,” Verstegen said.
However, Verstegen and her husband are now preparing to pay a lot more for peace of mind next year.
“It's really, really adding up,” she said.
If the enhanced tax credit for Affordable Care Act customers is allowed to run out, they’ll have to pay an extra $2,500 a year.
“We've already had to make so many cuts in everything else, and with the prices of groceries and childcare and electricity and everything going up, it's a really big impact for our family,” Verstegen said.
According to Gov. Tony Evers and Wisconsin's Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, a family of four on Obamacare making $130,000 a year could see their premiums double if they’re in Dane County or triple if they live in Barron County.
“It's important to point out that our increase is small change compared to what a lot of people are going to have to go through,” Verstegen said.
She took her fast feet to Capitol Hill to speak to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about the impact this will have on her and other families.
This was before the government shutdown ended, with talks about extending the tax credit tabled for a later date.
“They gave up on us, you know, we feel like the Democrats caved,” Verstegen said. “We have one month until we have to make that decision about what our healthcare is next year, and we pay that first premium for 2026, and a lot of the things being put on the table are not quick fixes.”
“If we're going to cut some of our kids’ activities, my husband is looking at other places to work that would provide more funding toward health care — we don't want to do that. We have been at our job for almost 30 years,” Verstegen said, “and the fact that we're being punished for this hard work, by the loss of these premium tax credits, really, really strikes a nerve.”
According to local insurance agents, there are concerns that more people who are healthy may decide not to have health insurance because it’s not affordable anymore without the tax credit.
This could cause companies to raise rates for others who depend on insurance coverage because the risk pool would be higher.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
When the political class saw the average workers paycheck was paying out in deductions more for Healthcare insurance premiums than income taxes, the government was going to go into the health insurance game.
“If we’re going to cut some of our kids’ activities, my husband is looking at other places to work that would provide more funding toward health care — WE DON’T WANT TO DO THAT.”
Translation: We’re Socialist Democrats and we VOTED FOR THIS - but since we’re so dependent upon Mother Government to run our lives, we’re BAFFLED when we have to take charge of our own lives to make them work!
Idiots.
Just like every other braindead lefty.
Health care has gone from 5% of GDP to 20% of (a much larger) GDP.
Most of it to administrators and a lot to insurance companies, big pharma, and corporate medicine.
Stop with the sob stories. I don’t owe you shit, lady.
No sympathy.
With the increase in Medicare payments to 220 a month, my husband and I will be paying 5,280 dollars for our âÂÂhealth insurance â next year. And we make MUCH less than 130,000 a year. Sooooo, Boo-hooo!
Why does a family of four making 130,000 a year need government subsidized anything?
I will not complain if we need to subsidize low income families.
We should not have to pay for their rides, gym memberships, groceries, full cost of eye glass and dental or over the counter medicine like many ACA plans offer.
$130,000 for a family of 4 in Wisconsin is not low income.
She could pay out of pocket for most basic medical treatments because she wasn’t subsidizing the healthcare for retirees on 30 year retirements, a hundred million foreigners who don’t belong here, and probably an equal number of shiftless layabouts on Medicaid.
“She could pay out of pocket for most basic medical treatments”
The only “medical treatments” we got were home remedies and over the counter medicines. None of us ever had a “pediatrician”. Mothers learned from their mothers and from their friends - experiences of what “worked” and didn’t work. They were the “doctors”.
$2 office visits.
There will be a steady drumbeat of these sad stories all the way till Jan.
So people are already paying $2500 a year and have much less income.
Dig into the ownership of Channel3000.
Nuff said.
I make half of that and have to pay $3600 a year for insurance for a $120,000 house.
Also I pay $1200 a year for the bottom level car insurance.
I get my insurance from my job, but still pay around $1000 a year, just for me, and that is the lowest tier.
My heart is NOT bleeding for them.
OH, actually I make less than half, as my job cut my pay $1,000 a month.
Bet they make a lot more than $130,000.
Once again, proving all government freebies are permanent.
Just like all government taxation.
It’s not the original Obamacare that is the BIG problem. It is the tack on during Covid....it made everyone and their brother eligible for the subsidies.
It turns out for the past two years one of the insurance companies had enrolled me without my knowledge and collected the subsidies. Luckily I’m healthy and use a cost sharing so-op catastrophic plan but it is shady as hell what the insurance companies are doing. But who can blame them? Free money.
How did you find out?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.