WAITSFIELD, Vt. (WCAX) – Pandemic-era subsidies are set to expire in the new year, and many Vermonters are beginning to receive their new insurance bills, with some seeing whopping increases.
Paul Strafford is self-employed, splitting his year between project design and running music festivals across the country.
He’s one of tens of thousands of Vermonters who don’t get health insurance from an employer but instead are insured under Obamacare by purchasing insurance through the state’s online marketplace.
Strafford recently received a letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield saying his premiums would increase from about $70 a month to almost $1,000 each month.
“I was shocked,” he said.
Health care subsidies put in place by Congress during the COVID pandemic are set to expire at the end of the year, leaving millions of Americans like Strafford in the lurch. Many will be forced to drop their coverage.
“I’ll be paying out of pocket for any medical visits or prescription care that I need,” Strafford said.
These health care subsidies were at the heart of the recent government shutdown fight, where Democrats like Sen. Peter Welch withheld support unless the subsidies were extended.
“The person who could get Republicans to work with us on an extension would be President Trump. But he’s got to weigh in, that’s the reality of it,” said Welch, D-Vermont.
Republicans, who control Congress and the White House, said the tax credits are a Band-Aid on a broken system that only enriches insurance companies. But President Trump said he’s not ruling out an extension of the subsidies while Republicans work to stand up a different system altogether.
“We would love to see the money go to the people and the people go out and get their own health care. There would be nothing like it,” Trump said.
With just weeks to go until the benefits expire, Strafford hopes the state can step in to help him and others access the care they depend on.
“Even an interim plan; 15,000 other Vermonters are affected like me with extremely high premiums,” Strafford said.
A dilemma with high stakes for Vermonters’ personal health and the health of their wallets.
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