Teresa Acosta: “The notion that we can wait until December 31st to figure this out — that’s not plausible for most families that I know.”

In the month leading up to ACA open enrollment tomorrow, Georgians who rely on the ACA for affordable health care have been speaking out against GOP U.S. Senate candidates Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins’ votes to shut down the government instead of protecting crucial tax credits as 1.4 million Georgians brace for skyrocketing premiums.

While Carter and Collins haven’t bothered to show up to work in DC for over a month, their constituents face potential average ACA premium increases of 296% and 345%, respectively, for an average 60-year-old couple. Derek Dooley has silently stood alongside Carter and Collins. 

See below on what Georgians are watching as their health care is set to skyrocket:

WATCH HERE

• [Destin Howard, WPGA] Politicians have different visions for the Affordable Care Act and expanded premium assistance. It’s important to note that this assistance was already set to soon expire at the end of the year for millions […]
  
• [Teresa Acosta] My youngest has type one diabetes, which, you know, there is no cure for it now and he requires a lot of medical care — a lot of medication, insulin, plus all the pump supplies that he uses to manage the disease. None of that is free. Doesn’t matter what insurance plan you have, it costs money. 
  
• [Destin Howard, WPGA] That’s Teresa Acosta, who says not knowing the future of the Affordable Care Act is even more concerning. Acosta says her monthly premiums are just under $200 for medical and an additional $145 a month for dental and vision. 
  
• [Teresa Acosta] The notion that we can wait until December 31st to figure this out — that’s not plausible for most families that I know. I need to know now what to expect in January. I know maybe that’s not how D.C. works, but that’s how my family works. 

WATCH HERE

• [Ansleigh Edwards, WGXA] The Affordable Care Act or ACA subsidy is being debated among Republicans and Democrats in Washington D.C. 
  
• [Ansleigh Edwards, WGXA] It’s a tax credit that lowers monthly health care premium costs for millions around the country but is set to expire at the end of this year. 
  
• [Ansleigh Edwards, WGXA] 1.2 million Georgians will be impacted if the tax credits are not extended. 
  
• [Ansleigh Edwards, WGXA] Judy Kreps is a small business owner who lives in Lumpkin County. She explained that she would pay more than $900 a month with an $8,000 deductible. 
  
• [Ansleigh Edwards, WGXA] Kreps says it hurts her to see how she and others might be impacted if the tax credit is not extended. 
  
• [Judy Kreps] It’s just pointless. They’re trying to do it to score political points and it’s just dumb and callous and cruel because one thing that we’ve learned since the ACA has been the law of the land, is that everyone wants quality, affordable healthcare. 
  
• [Ansleigh Edwards, WGXA] The House and the Senate have not been able to come to an agreement on either a final budget or a continuing resolution to keep the government paid temporarily.

WATCH HERE

• [Jonathan Martin, WXIA-NBC] Meantime, the House is still on recess while the Senate is still deadlocked. 
  
• [Jonathan Martin, 11Alive] Protesters gathered outside Congressman Mike Collins’ office yesterday. They’re calling on him to return to Washington and again vote to reopen the government.
  
• [GA-10 protestors] Do your job, save our health care. 
  
• [Jonathan Martin, 11Alive] You can hear them chanting, “do your job.” They also were chanting “pay the troops” through the Monroe community members’ rally. 
  
• [Jonathan Martin, 11Alive] This was right there. Yesterday, the Monroe communities for action, the group East Metro for Social Justice organized this event saying the government shutdown and the stalled budget are right now hurting a lot of working families. 
  
• [Jonathan Martin, 11Alive] Many protesters say they rely on health care through the Affordable Care Act and say higher costs could hit rural communities the hardest.
  
• [Michael Caw, GA-10 constituent] He needs to get back and do his job. The job is not just to pass a bill that’s just going to go on for maybe four or five months. They are supposed to be passing the budget for the country and how we are going to run.
  
• [Jonathan Martin, 11Alive] Protesters say they will keep pressuring Collins and other lawmakers until Congress goes back and passes a spending bill to restart and reopen the government.

• [Faith Jessie, WXIA-NBC] Now Marissa, what do we know about these rates if they increase?
  
• [Marissa Sarbak, WXIA-NBC] Well, Faith, we know that Georgians can see the rates and in some cases they tell us their premiums will more than double without these tax credits. 
  
• [Marissa Sarbak, WXIA-NBC] The ACA Marketplace is being used by people who don’t get their health care through Medicare, Medicaid or their employer. Some are unemployed. Others are small business owners or contract workers. About 24 million Americans use it. 
  
• [Gareth Fenley] It’s very distressing and it puts me in a very difficult position. I mean, I don’t want to go without health care. 
  
• [Marissa Sarbak, WXIA-NBC] It’s a question many who purchase health insurance are asking themselves after seeing significant increases populate on the Affordable Care Act Marketplace for 2026.
   
• [Marissa Sarbak, WXIA-NBC] Gareth Fenley says she had no insurance before the Affordable Care Act. She’s hoping she won’t have to revert to that.
  
• [Gareth Fenley] I just can’t believe that they’ll really do that—that they’ll really let them expire. 
  
• [Marissa Sarbak, WXIA-NBC] Now again, the ACA Marketplace opens enrollment on November 1st and if Congress comes to a decision to extend the tax credits before the end of the year, we would see those numbers change.
  
• [Faith Jessie, WXIA-NBC] […] We did get a statement from the Democratic Party of Georgia. We did not receive a statement from the Republican Party [of Georgia] but we are waiting for them.