Skyrocketing health insurance premiums will hit 1.5 million Georgians hard
“Dad, I’m hosed.” My 28-year-old son sent me that message after learning his health insurance premium will jump from $78 to $173 a month next year.
He’s self-employed in Los Angeles, healthy and buys coverage through California’s state marketplace. The increase isn’t because of a change in his health, it’s because Congress is allowing the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits to expire on Dec. 31. He’s one of 22 million Americans facing similar increases, and nearly 1.5 million Georgians are about to feel the same shock.
In Georgia, the impact will be catastrophic. According to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis, a 60-year-old couple making $85,000 per year would see their monthly premium more than triple, jumping from around $602 to more than $2,200 without the enhanced subsidies.
For the 1.5 million Georgians currently enrolled in marketplace plans through Georgia Access, 97% rely on these subsidies to make their premiums affordable.
As president and CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, I see the real-world consequences when people lose coverage. Nine Americans die every day from asthma.
Georgia has some of the highest asthma rates in the nation, particularly affecting Black children and adults who already face significant health disparities. When insurance becomes unaffordable, people skip their medication and end up in emergency rooms. For people managing chronic diseases, this choice means the difference between control and crisis.
Congress did not come up with a solution before year’s end
The Senate recently voted on competing proposals to address this crisis.
One approach would extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits for three years, maintaining the current system that has helped millions afford coverage.
The alternative proposal, introduced by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, would eliminate the enhanced credits and instead deposit money into Health Savings Accounts for those enrolled in high-deductible bronze or catastrophic plans. Both proposals failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance.
The HSA proposal is woefully inadequate for people with chronic conditions like asthma. It would push millions into high-deductible plans that require thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket spending before insurance covers most care.
For people with asthma who need regular medications, specialist visits and diagnostic tests, these plans create impossible financial barriers. Worse, HSA funds cannot be used to pay premiums, leaving families to shoulder dramatically higher monthly costs while also facing massive deductibles.
When people can’t afford inhalers, they may die, like 22-year-old Cole Schmidtknecht from Wisconsin who died after the cost of his inhaler jumped to $500. With access to regular checkups and medications, these deaths are preventable. Uncontrolled asthma costs the U.S. economy $81 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
When insurance becomes unaffordable, people skip doses, delay treatment and end up in emergency rooms, where care costs far more.
Georgians should not have to choose between housing and health
The enhanced tax credits have been transformative for Georgia. Since its implementation, marketplace enrollment has surged to record levels of 1.5 million Georgians.
Average monthly premiums dropped dramatically, with many paying less than $10 per month. This is especially significant for Georgia, which has not expanded Medicaid and has one of the nation’s highest uninsured rates.
Without congressional action, those gains will evaporate. Georgia is projected to lose approximately 33,600 jobs if the tax credits expire, according to recent economic analysis by George Washington University and funded by the Commonwealth Fund.
Hospitals across the state will face billions in additional uncompensated care costs as newly uninsured Georgians seek emergency care they cannot afford. Rural hospitals, already stretched thin, could face closure.
Some argue that letting these tax credits expire is fiscal responsibility. It isn’t. We’re not saving money. We’re shifting costs from preventive care to catastrophic care, from managed care to bankruptcy. The enhanced credits have provided a lifeline to small-business owners, gig workers, home health aides and retail employees — working Georgians who need affordable coverage to stay healthy and productive.
This is not a partisan issue. About 80% of those who benefit from these tax credits live in Republican-voting states, per a Washington Post analysis.
Even outgoing U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed concern about the impact on her constituents, posting on X that she was “absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will DOUBLE if the tax credits expire this year.”
Some senators, including Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, proposed extending the credits with reforms rather than replacing them with inadequate HSA accounts.
Working Georgians shouldn’t have to choose between health care and housing, or between staying insured and staying afloat.
My son will find a way to manage his higher premium, even if it means cutting back elsewhere. But hundreds of thousands of Georgians may not have that choice. Congress, which is out of session for the holidays, has until Dec. 31 to act. When they return to Washington, members of Congress should extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits not just because it’s good policy — it’s smart economics for Georgia.
For people with asthma and other chronic conditions, it’s a matter of life and breath.
Kenneth Mendez is president and CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
