ACA Enrollee Angelia Hoomes: “I simply can’t afford the premiums that it would take to get the level of coverage that I need.”
While GOP U.S. Senate candidates Rep. Buddy Carter, Rep. Mike Collins, and Derek Dooley have remained staunchly opposed to extending crucial ACA tax credits by the end of the year, ANF and 11Alive highlighted two of the 1.4 million Georgians who are already paying substantially higher premiums and worrying about their options as the deadline for coverage beginning January 1st passed on Monday.
Despite the fact that 95% of Georgians who purchase plans on the ACA Marketplace rely on these tax credits to afford their premiums, GOP U.S. Senate candidates Rep. Buddy Carter, Rep. Mike Collins, and Derek Dooley all oppose an extension.
New data from KFF found that ACA premiums could skyrocket by up to $885 and $936 per month in Buddy Carter’s and Mike Collins’ districts, respectively.
- [Doug Reardon, WANF] We met Himali Patel here just outside of Emory Hospital, where she was finishing up a treatment for one of her many autoimmune disorders. And as you said, she needs constant care but fears she may not be able to not just get it, but afford it if these subsidies go away as they are now expected to at the end of the year.
- [Doug Reardon, WANF] And Patel is one of hundreds of thousands, actually an estimated 1.4 million Georgians that rely on these subsidies to pay their premium.
- [Doug Reardon, WANF] She started needing them right around the time in 2021 when the subsidies were increased, but they will return to pre-pandemic levels next year. And it means that people may not be able to afford their coverage or may have to go without it in many, many cases. For Patel who needs her insurance literally to survive, it means making cuts elsewhere.
- [Himali Patel] And so insurance for me is a huge relief. As long as I have it. In my world, I don’t really have a choice. My choice is literally do I stay alive? Do I function as I’m currently functioning? Or do I have no insurance?
- [Doug Reardon, WANF] Yeah, Patel was keeping an eye on that vote yesterday. She tells me that the Republican-backed plan which also failed along party lines, which was essentially a health savings account, wouldn’t come near the amount that she needs to keep up with their medical bills.
- [Doug Richards, WXIA] Himali Patel of DeKalb County says she spends an inordinate amount of her time in front of health care specialists.
- [Himali Patel] I’ve got multiple autoimmune conditions and connective tissue disorders, and last year I was diagnosed with cancer.
- [Doug Richards, WXIA] She has been an Affordable Care Act customer for more than a decade. Her newest out-of-pocket premium for ACA coverage was a shocker.
- [Himali Patel] My premium has actually quadrupled—more than quadrupled.
- [Doug Richards, WXIA] And that’s because she and hundreds of thousands of other Georgians have lost a COVID-era subsidy. Congress has declined to extend it as part of a partisan power struggle at the U.S. Capitol.
- [Angelia Hoomes] My cost per month is going up by $1,300. That’s $15,000 a year.
- [Doug Richards, WXIA] Angelia Hoomes of Macon is another ACA customer observing the bickering in Washington and eyeing how it’s affecting her family budget.
- [Angelia Hoomes] It’s very, very scary. I have two major conditions, which mean that my health care must be continuous and it must be good coverage.
- [Doug Richards, WXIA] Hoomes says it presents a stark choice: giving up on health care or facing medical bankruptcy.
- [Angelia Hoomes] I simply can’t afford the premiums that it would take to get the level of coverage that I need.