Mainers are “bracing for devastating premium increases that could make their health care unaffordable.”
Augusta, Maine – In case you missed it, Mainers are sharing personal stories as they “brac[e] for devastating premium increases that could make their health care unaffordable,” when ACA enhanced premium tax credits expire.
Susan Collins “has yet to sponsor” any legislation to extend the tax credits, and Mainers are criticizing her for continuing to vote against a bill that would save health care for more than 50,000 Mainers who are at risk of seeing their insurance premiums skyrocket when the tax credits expire.
REMINDER: When those insured by the CoverME ACA marketplace receive notices of skyrocketing premium increases in coming days, their typical costs could double, thousands could pay over $900 more a month, and in some scenarios, families could see rates increase by 412%.
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NPR: Why the ACA needs young people — and the looming 'death spiral' for health insurance
By Selena Simmons-Duffin
October 26, 2025
Chloe Chalakani has a lot at stake in the health care fight at the heart of the government shutdown.
Chalakani runs a small culinary business with her partner in the coastal town of Thomaston, Maine. As temperatures drop and the height of her busy tourist season winds down, she's hitting her list of fall administrative tasks, including health insurance enrollment. She uses CoverME.gov, the Affordable Care Act marketplace in Maine, also known as Obamacare.
Her options for 2026 are looking grim.
"My premium is already $460 a month, and that is for the highest deductible plan that exists," she says. She's 31 years old and fairly healthy. Extra financial help with premiums — in the form of enhanced tax credits — expires in December, and rates are going up.
"I don't plan to get insurance next year," she says. "I'm just not going to do it — I'll pay out of pocket."
The prospect of young people dropping out of the ACA markets worries health policy experts — not just because of their own personal risk of going uninsured, but because of the effect that millions of people making the same decision could have on the whole health system.
Mainer Beacon: Mainers to Collins: Prioritize our health, renew ACA tax credits
By Channa Steinmetz
October 27, 2025
When open enrollment for Maine’s health insurance marketplace begins on November 1, Mainers like Kristin Fuhrmann-Simmons are bracing for devastating premium increases that could make their health care unaffordable.
Fuhrmann-Simmons, a 51-year-old artist, teacher, and mother from Kennebunkport, has relied on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for years to manage her multiple sclerosis, a chronic illness that requires complex, ongoing care. Her treatment involves regular MRIs, spinal taps, and expensive medications to maintain brain pressure — all of which would be out of reach without the coverage she currently receives through the ACA Marketplace.
“Thanks to the enhanced premium tax credit, our monthly premium right now — without my being able to work consistently and full-time — is only $11 a month,” she said. “Without the credit, our premium could skyrocket to $2,000 a month. This is completely out of reach for us. Losing this coverage would mean losing my ability to see, my ability to walk, and to live here with dignity.”
The expiration of the enhanced ACA premium tax credits would roll back critical financial assistance for millions of Americans who purchase health insurance through the ACA Marketplace. These enhanced credits both increased the amount of assistance available to low-income enrollees and expanded eligibility to many middle-income families who previously earned too much to qualify. Since their introduction in 2021, Marketplace enrollment nationwide has more than doubled from about 11 million to over 24 million people.
If the enhanced credits lapse, many enrollees will receive smaller subsidies, while others will lose them altogether. The result could be catastrophic premium hikes. For example, an individual making $28,000 a year could see their annual premium jump from $325 to over $1,500 — a $1,200 increase — for the same plan.
Republican lawmakers’ refusal to renew the expiring tax credits and restore Medicaid funding that was cut earlier this summer has resulted in the ongoing federal government shutdown that has left key health programs unfunded and delayed congressional action on multiple fronts.
“Susan Collins is to blame for the pending health care coverage crisis Maine faces,” said Devon Murphy-Anderson, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party. “The increased insurance costs Mainers are expected to pay and the pending health care cliff, where Mainers will lose health insurance, falls squarely on Susan Collins’ shoulders as she refuses to do anything to help.”
Andrew Volk, small business owner of Hunt & Alpine in Portland, shared that the ACA made it possible for him to take the leap into entrepreneurship.
“The ACA helps small business owners. It helps entrepreneurs. It helps people who are trying to contribute to our economy in meaningful ways,” Volk said. “When I talk to Susan Collins’ office, they say, ‘Well, those were just COVID tax credits.’ And I said, ‘Well, COVID is not over. I have staff right now who are out because of it.’ These tax credits deserve to be in place, especially when healthcare costs are going up across the board.”
Volk said he sees this as an opportunity for lawmakers to prove government can still function for ordinary people.
“So many people are disillusioned with how government operates on both sides,” Volk continued. “These tax credits are really good, and the Affordable Care Act in general is a very good example of how government can work well and support its people. Plus, from a monetary point of view, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to some of the things we spend money on that don’t have as much meaningful impact.”
In Stonington, artist and designer Julie Morringello says the ACA has saved her life, twice. Diagnosed with breast cancer more than a decade ago, she says she was able to access early detection and treatment with her ACA coverage.
“I’m not one of the people that’s going to drop insurance,” Morringello said. “I must have insurance. I must have yearly MRIs. Sometimes I have to have CAT scans. I have to take medications. There are complications of chemotherapy, all these things.”
Open enrollment for the Maine Health Insurance Marketplace runs November 1 through January 15, with December 15 as the deadline for coverage starting January 1. Medicare open enrollment is also underway through December 7, offering older Mainers a chance to review and switch plans.
For Fuhrmann-Simmons, she and her husband, who already live on a tight budget and carry $20,000 in medical debt, could lose the coverage that keeps her alive without the enhanced tax credits.
“Millions of people like me will face impossible choices,” she said. “Do we pay the mortgage, or do we keep our health insurance? These are gut-wrenching decisions no family in Maine or the nation should ever have to make.”
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