Republicans in Washington have refused to extend subsidies to prevent drastic cost increases for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans in 2026.
Demonstrators rallied in Richmond on Monday to urge Virginia Republicans to help keep the cost of health care down as the state gets ready for its open enrollment period.
Health care advocate Laura Packard took part in the demonstration on the capitol grounds where Virginia Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, were holding a press conference.
Packard is among the 389,000 Virginians who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace, and she’s worried about the rising costs of her monthly payments.
“I’m a real person, and I’m facing a 21% increase in my health insurance premiums for next year,” Packard told Dogwood as law enforcement officers kept the demonstrators at a distance from the Republican press conference. “They clearly don’t want to hear what we have to say.”
Starting Nov. 1, Virginians along with other Americans will be able to sign up for health care plans on the federal ACA exchange as part of what’s called the open enrollment season.
The monthly payments, known as premiums, for these different plans are going to be significantly higher than they were last year. Most insurers in Virginia have proposed an average increase of 20% for individual and small group health plans.
In addition, federal tax credits that lower the costs of these plans are scheduled to expire at the end of this year, which is expected to drastically increase the costs of these plans. Eighty-four percent of Virginians who obtain coverage via the ACA marketplace get tax credits amounting to $405 per month to make their plans more affordable.
Without these credits, many could see premiums double or even triple.
The monthly premium for a couple in their 60s with an income of $84,700 in Roanoke County would go up by $1,076 if the ACA tax credits expire, according to estimates published by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
Elsewhere around the state and on the income ladder, households will see premiums go up by hundreds of dollars per month.
A couple in their 40s with two kids ages 10 and five making $96,450 in Virginia Beach or Fairfax County would see their monthly premium increase by $318. And a 45-year-old making $46,950 in Chesterfield or Henrico counties would see his or her monthly premium go up by $155.
Virginia’s two Democratic US Senators re-affirmed their support Tuesday for extending the tax credits as a necessary part of any legislation that would re-open the federal government, which has been closed since October 1. Republicans have shown little to no interest in addressing the rising costs of health care as the government shutdown drags on.
“If Republicans continue to refuse to act on ACA tax credits, then many Americans will be forced to forgo health insurance next year,” Kaine and Warner said in a joint statement. “This will lead to more people turning to emergency rooms for preventive health care, further stress being placed on health care providers, and health care costs rising even more.”
Lauralyn Clark, 62, a retired Richmond home care worker who attended Monday’s demonstration, told Dogwood it didn’t make sense that Republicans were passing tax cuts for the wealthy, among other things, while so many Americans were struggling to get by.
“We got our president building a dining hall, a dance hall, or whatever it is, while there are people out here living in the street because they can’t find housing,” Clark said.
