Premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) have helped millions of Americans — including my husband and me — maintain health insurance on the ACA exchange. These subsidies have helped family farmers, small business owners, and community service non- profit employees and others who don’t have access to employer-sponsored healthcare plans.
Congress enacted the subsidies years ago, but recently let them fizzle out. So now, nearly 5 million people are expected to lose coverage this year alone, simply because (according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, KFF) they can no longer afford it. And millions of others who somehow can still afford coverage are suffering dramatically higher premiums — like my husband and I — who live in Page County.
We live in Luray and our combined income is modest, so we’ve previously qualified for the ACA subsidies. With cuts to federal government operations over 2025, I lost my job working for a federal contractor, and was fortunate to snag a new job, but without employer-provided health insurance. As a 55-year-old cancer survivor, it’s just too risky for me to go without health insurance, so we have no alternative but to find the money to continue paying for it. The problem is that now, without the ACA subsidy, our insurance premiums have jumped 80 percent — from about $1,000 per month last year to $1,800 this year. That’s an annual increase from about $12,000 to $21,600.
We are not the only Page County residents suffering this problem. Over 1,000 Page residents face it as well, as estimated by a Virginia nonprofit healthcare navigator. This is not just our problem as individuals, but a collective problem. Healthcare costs will only continue to rise as the numbers of uninsured people rise. They will still need healthcare; hospitals are mandated to provide care. As they treat the uninsured, their costs go up as well as the cost of healthcare and health insurance for those who have insurance. I urge fellow county residents to reach out to Senators Kaine and Warner to ask they continue fighting for affordable healthcare and an extension of the ACA tax credits.
For anyone in Page who finds their out-of-pocket healthcare costs impossibly high, one possible resource is the PAN Foundation. PAN is an independent, national nonprofit organization that provides critical financial help for treatment costs, advocates for policy solutions that expand access to care, and delivers education on complex topics. To learn more about their work, including their grassroots advocacy campaign urging Congress to reinstate the enhanced premium tax credits visit their website, at panfoundation.org.
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