Extension of the tax credits<\/a> was a top priority for Senate Democrats during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. But the shutdown ended Wednesday with no deal to extend the health care subsidies or provide any other measure to lower the cost of health care. <\/p>\nCongress now has until the end of the year to extend the credits \u2014 which were enacted in 2022 \u2014 or watch them expire. <\/p>\n
Alaska\u2019s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has said she supports the extension of the tax credits, at least in the short term, to avoid the projected sharp price increase. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has also said he supports an extension of the subsidies. Alaska\u2019s U.S. Rep. Nick Begich has not spoken in favor of their extension or responded to multiple interview requests on the subject. <\/p>\n
The agreement to end the shutdown included a promise from the Senate majority leader to hold a vote on a proposal to extend the tax credits before the end of the year, but Alaskans are already being asked to make decisions about their 2026 coverage. For them, action from Congress can\u2019t come soon enough. <\/p>\n
\u200b\u200b\u201cI need my government, specifically my congressional delegation, to speak for me concerning the levers of power in this country, and I feel absolutely abandoned,\u201d said Mark Robokoff, who owns a pet supply shop in Anchorage and is staring down a more than 300% increase in the cost of insurance. <\/p>\n
The impact of the elimination of the tax credits depends on the income, age and family size of the enrollee. Premium increases are greatest for Alaskans nearing retirement age who earn 401% of the poverty line or higher. <\/p>\n
Of the roughly 25,000 Alaskans enrolled in plans purchased through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, many of those who will see the sharpest increase in insurance costs are owners of small businesses who say their contributions to the Alaska economy are on the line. <\/p>\n
\u2018An entirely new calculus\u2019<\/p>\n
Robokoff said the monthly insurance premium for him and his partner is set to triple, going from $924 in 2025 to $2,886.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will pull the rug out from under me,\u201d said Robokoff. \u201cI thought I was doing the things that a society wants its members to do \u2014 create new businesses, create new jobs, improve the life of the surrounding community.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/W74BXZ3QB5FTLAN2UTPSOGFERY.jpg\")
AK Bark owner Mark Robokoff, photographed at his store in Anchorage in November 2024. (Loren Holmes \/ ADN archive) <\/p>\n
Robokoff said that when he was younger, he went without insurance, but he now relies on medication that would cost thousands of dollars a month without insurance, so forgoing coverage is not an option. <\/p>\n
Given the increase in the price of premiums, he said he will have to consider what changes to make in the business. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an entirely new calculus. Everything is going to have to be looked at, from the prices I pay for merchandise, the quality that I try to stock, the amount that I pay my employees to keep the best ones \u2014 every single aspect of the store is going to have to be re-examined,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Robokoff said his mindset so far has been a \u201cfingers-crossed hope that Congress would not put us in this ridiculous situation.\u201d He thought, \u201cour situation is so drastic that the government can\u2019t help but come to our aid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat hope and surety is rapidly being stripped away,\u201d he said, as lawmakers have repeatedly punted on an extension.<\/p>\n
\u2018Cut us at the knees\u2019<\/p>\n
Loidolt, who owns an accounting firm that employs four people, said her insurance premiums are set to go up roughly $500 per month, or $6,000 for the year, without the subsidies.<\/p>\n
She already pays $1,347 per month in premiums. Without the extension of the subsidies, she\u2019ll be paying more per month for her health insurance than she spends on her mortgage. <\/p>\n
\u201cWho can afford to live when 30% of everything you bring in just pays for insurance and deductible?\u201d Loidolt said. <\/p>\n
Loidolt said she has tried to purchase a company plan for her business, but she learned that insurance companies largely don\u2019t offer plans to companies in Alaska with fewer than five participating employees. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo our hands are kind of tied there, too. It\u2019s not like we have options and we\u2019re choosing this more expensive option through the marketplace,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Loidolt recently suffered an accident that has left her with ongoing medical needs that would cost thousands of dollars a month without insurance. Going without insurance is not on the table, she said. <\/p>\n
Given rising health care costs, Loidolt said she is considering shutting down her business, laying off her employees and ending the accounting services she provides to roughly 40 small businesses.<\/p>\n
Loidolt said she thinks she could get a salaried job that comes with benefits, but closing her business would be \u201cheartbreaking\u201d and devastating for her clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we\u2019re part of the solution, and this is going to make us part of the problem,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re the people that are actually paying our bills every month. We\u2019re not on assistance. We\u2019re making it work, even with these ridiculous prices. We\u2019re offering jobs with small companies. We\u2019re offering competition to people so that the monopolies don\u2019t take over. And they\u2019re just going to cut us at the knees.\u201d<\/p>\n
[GOP plans to replace Obamacare have failed. Here\u2019s what lawmakers propose now.<\/a>]<\/p>\n\u2018It makes me want to throw up\u2019<\/p>\n
Nan Schleusner, a human resources consultant in Anchorage, said she and her husband \u2014 who are both sole proprietors \u2014 have relied on insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act since the enhanced premium tax credits kicked in. <\/p>\n
The tax credits made marketplace plans affordable for them for the first time, just as Schleusner and her husband were getting older and encountering more health concerns. <\/p>\n
\u201cThank God\u201d they got the insurance, Schleusner said, because in 2022, she was diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really wonderful when the enhanced premium tax credits took effect, because it helped with these extreme medical bills that we ended up having,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was just that peace of mind, like, OK, it\u2019s still a stretch \u2014 it\u2019s not inexpensive \u2014 but we can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But now, Schleusner is facing $37,000 in annual premium payments and a $15,000 deductible for her family of three, for the cheapest plan on offer.<\/p>\n
Schleusner said she is considering reaching out to some of the companies she consults for and asking to become their employee so she can join their insurance plan. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this 15 years, and I feel called to do it,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t want to give it up. It\u2019s been some sleepless nights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schleusner this year paid $1,380 per month for her family of three, or $16,560 in premiums for the year. To keep the same plan she currently has next year, she\u2019d pay more than 300% of this year\u2019s cost, with premiums totaling over $52,000 annually. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me want to throw up every time I look at it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s the affordability part, but there\u2019s the \u2018what on Earth is going on that this is costing $50,000 a year?\u2019 That\u2019s not a reasonable cost,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"United Way health care navigator Kelly Fehrman consults with a client about Affordable Care Act-related health insurance options…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253,154576,114195],"class_list":{"0":"post-296140","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-healthcare-navigator","12":"tag-united-way"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/LAQPQFP4JNCMBPDKJGTZ4CRHUY.JPG\")
United Way health care navigator Kelly Fehrman consults with a client about Affordable Care Act-related health insurance options from her office at the Providence Anchorage Family Medicine Center in Anchorage on June 17, 2025. (Marc Lester \/ ADN) <\/p>\n