As enhanced Obamacare health insurance subsidies prepare to expire at the end of this year, some people with Affordable Care Act coverage could face higher out-of-pocket costs to maintain their health insurance.
- Obamacare subsidies expire this year, raising costs for ACA users.
- Local business owner's premium jumps from $150 to $220 monthly.
- Healthcare providers worry patients may drop coverage due to higher costs.
I spoke with small business owner Tom Rooney, who has coverage under Obamacare. He shared the numbers with me after adjusting his insurance plan this week.
"Currently in 2025, I have Priority Health. It's a silver premium plan. I'm paying with the exchange, a little over $150 a month," Rooney said.
"With the new year coming up, 2026, we had to up different numbers. I'm still covered for the same. My deductible for emergency room and private is still 35 or 25, it didn't go up at all. But, I'm gonna be paying $220 a month," Rooney said.
For Rooney, he made his decision based on what he could afford, as well as personal health considerations.
I also spoke with Michelle Pope at Doctors Urgent Care Walk-in Clinic of Jackson. As a walk-in clinic, she says it's common for patients to be covered under Obamacare.
"We see all different sorts of insurance. A lot of those plans being from the Affordable Care Act," Pope said.
Pope knows that many people covered by those plans will be facing difficult decisions.
"With these monthly premiums going up, what's gonna happen is patients are going to try to cut costs and pick different plans that are less costly. But essentially, it covers less," Pope said.
"They may opt to just not have insurance to save on that monthly cost. And you know, you never predict when you're gonna have to be seen or when you have a sickness come up," Pope said.
For people like Tom Rooney, he understands the reality of aging.
"I'm getting older and something might happen," Rooney said.
But he also recognizes that other people's situations could be more challenging.
"There's certain trades right now, and we're just busy. But I know there's people I know that are really hurting. So it may hurt their checkbook," Rooney said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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