Family facing higher costs prepares to go without insurance
Dave Roof’s family of four has been on ACA insurance since the program started in 2014. Back then, the accessibility of insurance on the marketplace helped him feel comfortable taking the leap to start a small music production and performance company in his hometown of Grand Blanc, Michigan. His wife, Kristin, is also self-employed as a top seller on Etsy.
The coverage has worked for them so far, even when emergencies come up, such as an ATV accident their 21-year-old daughter had last year.
But now, with the expiration of subsidies that kept their premiums down, the 53-year-old Roof said their $500 per month insurance plan is jumping to at least $700 a month, along with spiking deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.
With their joint income of about $75,000 a year, that increase is not manageable, he said. So, they are planning to go without health insurance next year, paying cash for prescriptions, checkups and anything else that arises.
Roof said his family is already living cheaply and has not taken a vacation together since 2021. As it is, they do not save money or add it to their retirement accounts. So even though forgoing insurance is stressful, it is what they must do.
“The fear and anxiety that it’s going to put on my wife and I is really hard to measure,” Roof said. “But we can’t pay for what we can’t pay for.”
Single mom strains her January budget in hopes Congress acts soon
If you ask Katelin Provost, the American middle class has gone from experiencing a squeeze to a “full suffocation.”
The 37-year-old social worker in Henderson, Nevada, counts herself in that category. As a single mom, she already keeps a tight budget to cover housing, groceries and day care for her 4-year-old daughter.
Next year, that is going to be even tougher.
The monthly fee on her plan is going up from $85 to nearly $750. She decided she is going to pay that higher cost for January and reevaluate afterward, depending on whether lawmakers extend the subsidies, which as of now appears unlikely. She hopes they will.
If Congress does not act, she will drop herself off the health insurance and keep it only for her daughter because she cannot afford the higher fee for the two of them over the long term.
The strain of one month alone is enough to have an impact.
“I’m going to have to reprioritize the next couple of months to rebalance that budget,” Provost said. “Christmas will be much smaller.”
