Health Insurance Crisis: Families Brace for Rising Costs as Subsidies Expire

Sat Dec 13 2025 21:52:55 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

As the expiration of COVID-era health subsidies looms, many American families face tough choices about their health insurance plans. Reports from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nevada illustrate the difficult decisions these families must make.

With a mere weeks left until COVID-era health subsidies expire, many Americans are confronted with significantly higher health insurance costs. Families across the country are preparing for tough choices, from downgrading their plans to forgoing insurance entirely, all due to the government’s inaction. Personal accounts highlight the strain on finances, as more families prepare to tighten their budgets or live without coverage.

NEW YORK (RTW) — The expiration of government-sponsored health subsidies next year has left families across the United States making difficult choices about their health insurance plans. For some, like a couple in Wisconsin, this means switching to lower-quality insurance with a much higher deductible. For others, like a family in Michigan, it may mean going without insurance altogether.

Katelin Provost, a single mom in Nevada, highlights the pressure. She has expressed concern over the dramatic rise in costs, with her monthly premium skyrocketing from $85 to nearly $750. This will force her to rethink her family’s budget, drastically reducing the Christmas gifts she had planned for her daughter.

Time is running out as Congress has only three weeks left to address the expiration of enhanced COVID-era tax credits, a crucial support for millions who rely on the Affordable Care Act coverage. The Senate's recent rejection of two proposals to extend these subsidies has amplified fears that many Americans will face soaring healthcare costs in 2026.

The burden has become palpable for families like Chad and Kelley Bruns from Wisconsin. The couple, who have managed their healthcare costs carefully over the years, now finds themselves forced to downgrade their insurance plan substantially. Their monthly payment for a top-tier gold-level plan will leap from $2 to $1,600 in 2026, compelling them to choose a bronze plan that leaves them at risk with a $15,000 deductible.

Meanwhile, Dave Roof’s family of four in Michigan, who have been on ACA insurance since its launch in 2014, are considering dropping their coverage altogether. The increase in their premiums from $500 to at least $700 monthly, paired with high deductibles, is simply untenable. Sacrificing insurance means paying for health expenses out of pocket, a daunting prospect that adds to their already pressing financial woes.

As they brace for the new year, many Americans, including Provost, Roof, and the Bruns family, face unprecedented strains on their finances, praying for congressional intervention that seems increasingly unlikely.