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Credit: via Shutterstock<\/p>\nCredit: via Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Florida has more to lose than any other state if Congress doesn\u2019t extend enhanced premium tax credits for so-called Obamacare coverage.<\/p>\n
That was the message a trio of Democratic members of Congress delivered Tuesday on Day 14 of the government shutdown. At the center of the shutdown is a partisan battle over extending the tax credits to lower the costs of health care coverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The credits expire at the end of the year. Democrats are holding up government funding to pressure Republicans into extending them. While Republicans have said they are open to talks, they insist Democrats vote to continue government operations until late November.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Trump and Republicans continue to refuse to negotiate our way out of this health care coverage crisis, it\u2019s going to be absolutely brutal, disproportionately for Florida,\u201d said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Weston.<\/p>\n
Florida leads the nation in the number of people who purchase insurance through the federal exchange (healthcare.gov), which was established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), sometimes called Obamacare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data from March show that of the 4.7 million Florida residents with an Obamacare plan in 2025, 4.6 million receive the tax credits.<\/p>\n
Obamacare enrollment for 2026, meanwhile, is set to begin next month.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these credits expire, millions of people will \u2014 and thousands of people that we represent,\u00a0 really, hundreds of\u00a0 thousands \u2014 will face double, triple, or quadruple price hikes in their [health insurance] premiums. That\u2019s not exaggeration or hyperbole. We\u2019ve seen the notices,\u201d said Wasserman Schultz, whose district includes 209,000 Obamacare enrollees, 203,000 of whom receive the tax credits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve talked to insurance companies and we know that that\u2019s what\u2019s coming,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd you all know what that really means. Families will be forced to drop coverage, chronic diseases will go undiagnosed, ERs will be flooded.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joining Wasserman Schultz in a Zoom meeting were U.S. Reps. Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost, who said the loss of the enhanced premiums plus Florida\u2019s decision to not expand Medicaid to low-income childless adults will prove devastating.<\/p>\n
Soto said his congressional district has the second highest Obamacare enrollment (271,000) in the nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd there\u2019s a good reason for that. We have a lot of folks working for small businesses. We have a lot of folks who are independent contractors, and they don\u2019t have access to affordable, employer-based health care, so they\u2019ve gone on the exchange, and the fact that Florida didn\u2019t expand Medicaid only made it more desperate for folks to have to use the ACA exchange,\u201d Soto said.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cRemember when Donald Trump ran on lowering costs? Well, now he\u2019s running away from lowering costs with this key negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advanced premium tax credits have been available since passage of the Affordable Care Act. During COVID, Congress agreed to make the premium tax credits more generous. Those enhanced credits lower out-of-pocket costs for the coverage and allow people who earn more money to qualify for the subsidies.<\/p>\n
Only Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas (all of which have lower Obamacare enrollment) have lower average monthly premiums.<\/p>\n
While the battle over the tax credits has been partisan, conservatives including Associated Industries of Florida President and CEO Brewster Bevis, Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew, President and CEO of Florida Association of Community Health Centers Jonathan Chapman, and President and CEO of the Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Julio Fuentes aligned under the\u00a0Florida Conservatives for Affordable Health Care moniker<\/a>\u00a0and came out in support of their continuation over the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been around this debate over health care coverage for decades and, while the politics of the ACA have been heated over the years, there should be a unified political voice in support of the federal marketplace and the premiums assistance in Florida,\u201d\u00a0 Mayhew said during a\u00a0press conference this summer.<\/a><\/p>\n U.S. Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody both oppose extending the tax credits. Moody\u2019s position\u00a0could hurt her election bid next year<\/a>, a public opinion survey conducted by the Tyson Group shows.<\/p>\n Scott, the multimillionaire former health care executive who launched his political career opposing Obamacare, doubled down on his opposition to the longstanding federal health care law last week on Fox News\u2019\u00a0The Sunday Briefing.<\/p>\n \u2018Heartbreaking\u2019<\/p>\n For his part, Frost said the argument is an extension of the battle this summer over the GOP\u2019s \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill\u201d and that he was \u201cproud\u201d that Democrats are \u201cstanding strong\u201d on the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the party of the working class, we\u2019re the party of working people, and we don\u2019t want people\u2019s health care costs to go up anywhere from 50% to 300%. We don\u2019t want millions of people in this country losing their health care, because we believe health care is a human right for every single person in this country, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re fighting for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Frost said his office has asked constituents to share videos of themselves talking about the looming health insurance premium increases they face. His office, he said, has been posting them online.<\/p>\n One \u201cheartbreaking\u201d story he described involved a woman who said her monthly premiums were about to double.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s having to cut from her grocery trips. She had to cancel a trip to go see her parents that she hasn\u2019t seen in a long, long time. And a lot of people are considering having to change their housing situation because the rent is too damn high,\u201d Frost said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to remember that Donald Trump is throwing us into this healthcare crisis while he\u2019s also thrown us into a grocery store crisis, while he\u2019s also thrown us into a housing crisis, even worse than it ever was before. Everything is so much more expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n With wages stagnant and costs of living increasing, Frost said, \u201cworking people just need a break, and taking away their health care \u2014 it\u2019s one of the most inhumane things a person can do.\u201d<\/p>\n Silence<\/p>\n Meanwhile, state political leaders to date have been silent on the issue.<\/p>\n The three Democrats were critical of Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworski and Gov. Ron DeSantis for not warning state residents about the increases.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Soto said when asked whether the governor and insurance commissioner should be making people aware.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t hide these numbers. Obviously, people want to know, and they should know, and there\u2019s a duty to tell them ahead of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Frost said DeSantis and Yaworski are motivated by political considerations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe governor knows that in about a year, he\u2019s going to become pretty irrelevant on the national stage, and he\u2019s trying to find relevancy. He doesn\u2019t want to rub Trump the wrong way. And so instead of looking out for Floridians and what\u2019s best for the people he\u2019s supposed to lead and represent, he\u2019s going to keep his mouth shut and continue to play partisan games,\u201d Frost said.<\/p>\n OIR presentation<\/p>\n Meanwhile, OIR Deputy Commissioner for Life and Health Alexis Bakofsy updated the House Health Health Care Facilities & Systems Subcommittee Tuesday afternoon, including news that a statewide average 34% increase in premiums will take effect Jan. 1.<\/p>\n An OIR slide presentation shows the state expects Obamacare enrollment to \u201cdrop significantly during 2026 Open Enrollment with the expiration of enhanced subsidies & Federal Rule implementation.\u201d OIR has a demographic breakout but Bakofsy said she didn\u2019t have the information available with her.<\/p>\n She did tell committee members that 95% of Obamacare enrollees live in a county with at least four carriers. Monroe County is the only area in the state with only one health insurer offering a Obamacare plan through the exchange, the result of Aetna exiting the market (in Florida and nationally.)<\/p>\n Bakofsy repeatedly said Florida consumers should shop, given the changes that are occurring.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I say \u2018shop\u2019 I mean understand how you\u2019re going to be impacted both on the exchange but also what are your options off exchange. Every consumer is going to be different to the extent that we can provide you with resources so that they can go. I would hate for someone to come to Dec. 15 and realize that the plan that they had, the plan they want to keep, is no longer available.\u201d<\/p>\n Bakofsy also told members that the OIR plans to collect data on enrollment and claims starting next year to ensure the office can effectively track participation in the market.<\/p>\n The OIR had not publicized the steep rate increases, a fact that Bakofsy acknowledged and which irked committee member and state Rep. Robin Bartleman, a Democrat from Weston.<\/p>\n Bartleman said many residents haven\u2019t even received notice from insurance companies warning them of the rate increases (Florida law requires the notice to go out 45 day in advance. Bakofsy said that gives the carriers until mid-November to send the notices).<\/p>\n \u201cSo, what? What is your plan? Because everyone this committee, we\u2019re going to be left holding that ball, and we had nothing to do with this. But you work for the state. You work for the governor. What are you going to do, because it\u2019s not just low-income people or minority people. I can give you the numbers of every\u00a0person in this community and how many people in your district aren\u2019t going to be able to afford health care insurance. What can you do to help us, help Floridians get this information out?\u201d<\/p>\n Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tIf there\u2019s a time and place for us all to come get tipsy together, it\u2019s right here and now\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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