Some Floridians are starting to learn how much more they'll soon be expected to pay for health insurance if Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the end of this year.
Those "enhanced premium tax credits" make monthly health care payments more affordable for eligible households. But the credits weren't included in President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" signed into law this year. Now, with the longest federal government shutdown, Democratic Senators say they won't pass a budget extension that doesn't restore the tax credits.
Republican lawmakers blame Democrats for keeping the government closed. Sixty votes are needed to pass the budget, and there are only 53 Republican senators.
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In Florida, more than 4.7 million people are enrolled in ACA plans — more than any other state. Of those Floridians, about 1.4 million — or 30% — are expected to be priced out of health care coverage without the tax credits, according to the nonprofit coalition Florida Voices for Health.
Others will likely face tough decisions about what to sacrifice to afford health care coverage.
Orlando resident Nathan Boye, a father of three, has diabetes. He shared his concerns about the expiring tax credits at a press conference Monday at Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost's district office in Orlando.
Right now, Boye said he pays $28 a month for his ACA plan. That amount covers 90% of the medications he needs to stay healthy. A few days ago, Boye received a letter from his insurer stating his monthly premium will soon go up to $733.
"Unless something changes, I'm going to be forced to make impossible choices," Boye said. "No family should have to face that. … We deserve a system where staying healthy is not a luxury."
Eric Rollings, another Orlando resident, said he's concerned about what health care will cost without the tax credits. He said he relies on several medications since receiving a heart stent.
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"It's an essential medication, and (an) 80-day supply without insurance is $2,600.99. So I don't have an option to be without health care. And that's just one medication," Rollings said.
Rollings said he recently paid about $580 for his insurance plan, but that next time, he'll be paying more than $1,200 — a 113% increase for basically the same plan.
"I think that this is a really insane and hurtful increase," Rollings said. "There are a lot of people that are dealing with things way worse than what I'm going through — with cancers, with pediatric cancer. All these people are not going to have coverage if they can't pay their insurance."
In Frost's Orange County district, about 189,000 people are expected to see their health care costs go up. More than 76,000 will be priced out of health coverage entirely, according to a report by Democratic members of the House Committee on the Budget.
Frost said Republicans will also be affected by the skyrocketing health care costs. Last month, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia broke with her party, saying she thinks the ACA tax credits should be renewed.
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"Why did she say that? Because her own kids received the letter and she saw what it means for her constituents," Frost said Monday. "This is what's going on across the entire country. … We hope more [Republican lawmakers] will come around."
Trump recently urged Republican senators to use a "nuclear option" to reopen the federal government: by terminating the filibuster, a tool the Senate can use to delay or block votes on legislation by denying the 60 votes needed to end debate. Ending the filibuster would allow Senate Republicans to pass a continuing resolution for the budget without Democratic votes.
Frost said Monday he was "very glad" to see Trump calling attention to the fact that, ultimately, reopening the government doesn't require votes from Democratic lawmakers.
"If they (Republicans) want to do the nuclear option, do it. They won't, because they want complicity. They want our votes," Frost said. "They're not going to get them. The only way they'll get our votes is if we extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, and we ensure that people have the health care that they need."
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