Posted on 11/01/2025 6:37:44 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Stacy Cox used one word repeatedly as she described how she felt after learning her ACA premium could jump over 300% without the enhanced tax credits: "devastating."
"I don't know if I've ever cried opening a letter from an insurance or before, but it happened this time," she told ABC News.
Cox's premium this year has been $495.32 for coverage for her and her husband. Without the credit in 2026, she was informed that it's increasing to $2,168.68.
"It's devastating because we can't afford that," she said. "Just that bill right there, that's more than our mortgage, our insurance, most of our food. That's what we're paying per month to live. We can't afford to double what it costs for us to live just to have health insurance."
"This will devastate us if we tried to pay it," she added.
Millions across the country are discovering just how much their plans will cost as open enrollment for Affordable Care Act insurance plans began on Nov. 1. Enrollment lasts through Jan. 15, 2026.
For Cox and her husband, who live in Kanab, Utah, even if the tax credit were to be extended, they'd still see the premium increase to $753.68. It would be a hit to their budget, but one they would take to keep insurance.
"It's already going to be hard for us to have a 52% increase on our premium, and that's if the credits are extended," she said. "But we will do it so that we can have health coverage."
Cox is a professional photographer and she and her husband, 55, have been enrolled in "Obamacare" since 2022.
For now, she's holding on to hope that the tax credits are extended and will reenroll in her plan so she doesn't miss open enrollment.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
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
I now have Medicare, and never had to prove that I had health insurance prior.
Obamacare was supposed to lower costs.
That’s what they told us over and over and over again.
Liars. All of them.
L
The problem with Obamacare was that people who had low cost subsidized insurance never saw the reality of what people who were actually paying into their insurance had to pay. For me, it was a $1200 per month with a $6000 deductible. And when I needed to see a doctor, I had to wait months because all the people who paid nothing got appointments ahead of me. The long appointment times happened after Obamacare came in, which allowed people who paid nothing got healthcare ahead of people who were subsidizing them.
But they are not gone.
The subsidies that existed pre 2020 will still exist, even with an inflation bump. My understanding is the only thing expiring are the Covid increases that were added.
Obamacare subsidies do NOT go to zero.
The Obamacare 55-62 window is brutal. Ain’t nationalized Healthcare wonderful.
There are plenty of employers who will provide health insurance.
But the catch is that she is going to have to work.
Yes you did. They have the information on their systems.
"Late enrollment is used strangely here.
How? Its a HIPAA issue. When the mandates came in, you had to send proof of insurance when you filed for income tax. I did that exactly once, and then the mandates stopped. I never sent proof for years after that.
The “Late Enrollment” they are referring to happens to be that you enroll with existing credible coverage. If you don’t have that existing credible coverage, you’re a late enrollment in their terms. I’m not sure why it’s worded so strangely? But if you read that first paragraph you will pick up on the contradiction.
Yes. It’s reported by your employer or insurance company directly to the agency that shall not be named.
So if I pay privately for health insurance before Medicare age, and pay full freight for it, it gets reported to the government? And if people who didn’t have health insurance prior to Medicare ( even though someone paid their Medicare tax ) get penalized with a higher Medicare premium ? That makes no sense, and is a HIPAA violation, I just don’t think you are right on that.
There is no health information exchanged. Just that you have health coverage or not. That was one of the fights about low cost catastrophic plans. The you know who folks at you know where claimed it wasn’t credible coverage because it didn’t cover wellness visits and yearly physicals. Apparently they met somewhere half way. You have to ask the company administrator of a low cost catastrophic plan if it’s considered credible coverage by Medicare at the time you transition to Medicare. Some plans are not.
Health insurance providers - for example, health insurance companies – may send Form 1095-B to individuals they cover, with information about who was covered and when. Certain employers will send Form 1095-C to certain employees, with information about what coverage the employer offered.
The idea on the credible coverage fine was to prevent low end, low cost, low value health insurance plans from taking away ACA enrollment. Employers were offering garbage plans that were predatory in some cases. The insurances the ACA is competing with were not to the standard of glorious Obamacare. So all credible plans from any insurer had to meet certain standards. If they did not meet the requirements they did not count as credible coverage.
Gosh there were so many arguments about this back in 2010. Confusing for sure.....because they "had to pass it to find out what's in it." This was one if the discoveries.
The Affordable Care Act is only affordable if somebody else (suffering taxpayers) is paying for it. Even when the subsidy it paid by somebody else it is still not affordable and especially if you have to use it and the high deductibles kick in.
And they are having this much of a hissy fit? They made it seem all the suubsidies were going, which they should. OMFG.
LOL
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.