Last week, Healthcare Innovation covered a discussion led by Families USA on the recent federal budget cuts to healthcare and their impact on working families in Florida, Georgia, and West Virginia, if Congress does not act. This week, the discussion continued with advocacies in the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, September 17, Families USA hosted a discussion with Consumers for Affordable Health Care (Maine), New Futures (New Hampshire), and the Pennsylvania Insurance Department on the rising healthcare premiums and expiring healthcare tax credits, and their impact on working families.

Anthony Wright, the Executive Director of Families USA, began the meeting by noting that across the country, consumers are receiving letters from their health plans informing them that their monthly premiums for next year will be significantly higher. “These premium spikes are the first of many consequences of the big budget bill that was passed earlier this year.” Wright reiterated that “many healthcare consumers will feel a double whammy. The premiums are rising, and the tax credits that would have shielded them from those increases and helped them afford the cost of coverage are being reduced or expiring altogether.”

Wright underscored that the increases are not inevitable. “They are a policy choice by this Congress and this administration. After campaigning on lowering prices immediately, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have failed to lower prices as promised.”

Michael Humphreys, a Commissioner with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, pointed out that in Pennsylvania, insurers have proposed the highest rate increases since the market stabilized in the mid-2010s, with an average of 19 percent in the individual market and 13 percent in the small group market. “The Shapiro administration is committed to fighting for Pennsylvanians, and the governor has directed my insurance department to give extra scrutiny to these historically high-rate increases, stressing that every penny matters.”

Sam Burgess, Health Care Policy Coordinator with New Futures, noted that in 2025, approximately 50,000 people in New Hampshire on the exchange have some type of tax credit subsidy that makes their healthcare plan affordable. “The tax credits lower the average monthly premium cost for enrollees from about $469 to $230.” This is now at risk, Burgess said.

Ann Woloson with Consumers for Affordable Health Care said that last year, their helpline received over 7,000 requests from Mainers seeking help understanding their coverage options, including information about what they might qualify for regarding their monthly health insurance premiums. “Over 54,000 Mainers are benefiting from the enhanced subsidies currently. If the enhanced subsidies are not extended, many Mainers will no longer be able to afford the coverage they need. Mainers living in rural areas will be hardest hit.”

Furthermore, Woloson said, “The Maine Bureau of Insurance recently announced health insurance rate increases for the coming year, with the average rate increase of almost 24 percent for the individual market, and nearly 18 percent for small employers.”  Woloson also cautioned that “when people go uninsured because they can't afford coverage, medical debt increases. Our entire healthcare infrastructure, including our hospitals, community health clinics, our doctors also suffer, having fewer resources available to them to keep their doors open.”