More than 140,000 people covered through Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange, are in for a sticker shock if Congress does not extend a federal tax credit for working families.
“This isn't a problem that can be kicked down the road until next year,” said James Michel, CEO of Access Health Connecticut, the state’s insurance exchange.
“For coverage starting January 1, your first payment is due in December. If you have a chronic illness, you have cancer, you have a child coming, you will pay in December, not in January.”
Democrats are working to extend tax credits that make health insurance more affordable on state marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act. Those subsidies, estimated at more than $400 million in Connecticut, are what’s at the heart of the federal government shutdown.
Republicans say they are open to negotiation on extending the subsidies, but not during a government shutdown.
A contingent of Democrat lawmakers gathered in Hartford Friday to urge Republican lawmakers to extend the premium credits without delay.
“It’s interesting to me that their $4.5 trillion in tax cuts they are willing to make permanent, but the dollars to extend the premium subsidies, they do not want to move on,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, flanked by U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney, John Larson, Jim Himes and Jahana Hayes.
Republicans continue to falsely claim that the tax credits go toward undocumented immigrants – a message that Michel of Access Health said is untrue. By law, undocumented immigrants cannot enroll in state health insurance marketplaces.
But that false messaging, and the ensuing delay, could mean that people could lose their health care, Larson said. And others could see “their prices rise so high that it's not affordable," he continued, "or they have to make those choices that Donald Trump, Elon Musk and all the rest have never had to make.”
Access Health CT is in the process of preparing notices for families across the state to inform them of how much more they would have to pay in premiums for 2026.
If Congress allows the tax credits to expire, KFF, a health policy research nonprofit, estimated that premiums could increase by thousands of dollars annually for families across the state.
Another KFF study showed that three-quarters of the public said Congress should extend the tax credit, including most Republicans. And seven in 10 marketplace enrollees said they could not afford coverage if their premiums doubled.
