Maria Catalina "Cat" Jaramillo, a longtime Miami-Dade County resident, said she was forced to go uninsured this year after her Affordable Care Act health insurance plan became unaffordable.
"My [monthly] healthcare insurance went up, to over $1,000," Jaramillo said during a virtual press conference. "Previously, I was paying a little bit over $180, so the increase was just way too high."
Jaramillo joined other consumers and healthcare advocates on Monday calling on political candidates and elected officials to address the mounting financial pressure on Floridians seeking health insurance through the ACA.
Premiums doubled or even tripled last January after the Republican-majority Congress let temporary enhanced federal subsidies for ACA health plans expire, leaving millions of Americans to decide whether to keep insurance or risk going without it.
The appeals by health consumers and advocates come a week before the midterm elections next Tuesday. Florida's ACA open enrollment period begins Monday and runs through Jan. 15.
The Associated Press reported a new analysis that shows insurers in the marketplace are proposing a second straight year of double-digit premium hikes.
Recent filings from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, say consumer advocates, reveal that rates have risen an average of 10% for individual health plans and nearly 13% for small group plans. Health care remains a top issue for Florida voters heading to the polls.
"Floridians are living in a broken healthcare system with high premiums, high drug costs and policies that leave people falling through the gaps," said Scott Darius, executive director of Florida Voices for Health. "It's time lawmakers take health care reform seriously and act to make it more affordable and accessible for everyone."
"We've been asking candidates across the country, running for federal office, including in Florida, the same question," said Sophia Tripoli, managing director of health policy at Families USA. "What will you do to hold healthcare corporations accountable for high costs?"
Advocates stress that immediate policy action is needed to lower costs and improve coverage for families in Florida.
Dave Waalewyn, an airline pilot from Central Florida, is paying $1,500 a month for his ACA plan after his previous employer, Spirit Airlines, went bankrupt and left employees without temporary health insurance.
"I was hoping to possibly retire," he said, but he had to delay his plans due to the high cost of health insurance.
Emily Bellairs-Romero, also of Central Florida, told reporters she had to change the medication she takes to manage her Crohn's disease, and the cost went up.
"The cost of this medication and the cost of my insurance is becoming unsustainable," she said. "We need a health care system that puts people over extreme profits."
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