As Georgians continue feeling the consequences of Rep. Buddy Carter and Rep. Mike Collins’ decision to shut down the government instead of protecting affordable health care, Atlanta News First spotlighted how the GOP opposition to extending ACA tax credits and hike health care premiums is hurting twoGeorgians and their families.

The reporting spotlights two of the 1.4 million Georgians who could see their premiums rise by up to 40% if the tax credits are not extended, including a single mother who is closing her small business because she can no longer afford health care and a woman whose premiums will explode from $70 to $900 without the critical tax credits. 

95% of the Georgians who get their insurance on the ACA Marketplace rely on the tax credits to afford their plans.

WATCH HERE

Key quotes:

• Tracye Hutchins, WANF-CBS: According to a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 80% of Americans support the extension of the tax credit. That includes Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
  
• Blair Miller, WANF-CBS: Atlanta News First Political Reporter Doug Reardon spoke with a small business owner in Dunwoody who uses those benefits. And Doug, she’s pretty worried about losing them.  
  
• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: Right and certainly, you know, this was a tough decision, and that’s why Teresa Acosta here in Dunwoody closed down her small catering business and started looking for a job that will provide her a health coverage plan. 
  
• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: She says without the subsidies provided by Congress ever since the early days of the Obama administration and Obamacare she cannot afford insurance on the private market.
  
• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: This is just something that a lot of people are dealing with because these credits are set to expire at the end of the year. It’s kind of what this entire debate in DC is over. 
  
• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: And Teresa said it was a tough call. She’d been building this business up since 2020, but she saw the writing on the wall. The tax credits got her premiums down from about $1000 a month to around $200, which, of course, is no small thing. 
  
• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: She’s a single mom, one of her kids has Type 1 diabetes. So she says health coverage is essential for them. and if she has to go back to paying full price, it’s not an expense that she can sustain.
  
• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: So, with no guarantee these subsidies would be renewed, she had to make a choice: business or health care.
  
• Teresa Acosta: I was able to pursue my dream — my dream business — without worrying that one medical bill was going to take us out. 
  
• Teresa Acosta: I’m very anxious about what’s coming in 2026. I don’t know what that’s going to look like and I’m scared for my kids.

WATCH HERE

Key quotes:

• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: The gridlock in DC ties back to a fight over health care. Republicans want to eliminate Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire this year that make coverage more affordable. 
  
• Judy Kreps: The ACA subsidies are keeping me alive. 
  
• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: Judy Kreps of rural Lumpkin County is one of over a million Georgians who rely on the ACA subsidies.
  
• Doug Reardon, WANF-CBS: There aren’t many options for care in her area and the subsidies take what would normally be a $900 premium down to $70 a month. 
  
• Judy Kreps: My husband is a cancer survivor. My daughter has a chronic illness. And we would have been bankrupt — literally, I’m not exaggerating — without the ACA. We would have lost our house because that stuff is expensive to treat.