MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin woman who gets her health insurance through the Affordable Care Act says she’s bracing for next year — when tax credits expire.
“This is going to hurt our family,” Shana Verstegen, a Madison fitness instructor, log roller, and mother, told News 3 Now Tuesday.
Like log rolling, raising a family requires a lot of risk. “We have two young boys and don’t feel good about not having health insurance with the two boys,” Verstegen said.
However, Verstegen and her husband are now preparing to pay a lot more for peace of mind next year.
“It’s really, really adding up,” she said.
If the enhanced tax credit for Affordable Care Act customers is allowed to run out, they’ll have to pay an extra $2,500 a year.
“We’ve already had to make so many cuts in everything else, and with the prices of groceries and childcare and electricity and everything going up, it’s a really big impact for our family,” Verstegen said.
According to Gov. Tony Evers and Wisconsin’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, a family of four on Obamacare making $130,000 a year could see their premiums double if they’re in Dane County or triple if they live in Barron County.
“It’s important to point out that our increase is small change compared to what a lot of people are going to have to go through,” Verstegen said.
She took her fast feet to Capitol Hill to speak to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about the impact this will have on her and other families.
This was before the government shutdown ended, with talks about extending the tax credit tabled for a later date.
“They gave up on us, you know, we feel like the Democrats caved,” Verstegen said. “We have one month until we have to make that decision about what our healthcare is next year, and we pay that first premium for 2026, and a lot of the things being put on the table are not quick fixes.”
“If we’re going to cut some of our kids’ activities, my husband is looking at other places to work that would provide more funding toward health care — we don’t want to do that. We have been at our job for almost 30 years,” Verstegen said, “and the fact that we’re being punished for this hard work, by the loss of these premium tax credits, really, really strikes a nerve.”
According to local insurance agents, there are concerns that more people who are healthy may decide not to have health insurance because it’s not affordable anymore without the tax credit.
This could cause companies to raise rates for others who depend on insurance coverage because the risk pool would be higher.
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