Washington D.C. – New public polling shows the cost of health care is now the #1 economic concern for Americans. The survey comes after the Republican-led Congress ripped Affordable Care Act’s tax credits away leaving 24,249 Alaskans on the state ACA marketplace to pay, on average, $909 more annually for health coverage — while 7,000 priced-out Alaskans will lose their health care coverage entirely this year.
Despite the well-known consequences of allowing the ACA tax credits to expire amid a worsening Trump-GOP affordability crisis, Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK-AL) voted against extending these cost-and-life-saving tax credits (repeatedly in Sullivan’s case) after both voted to give another trillion dollar tax break to billionaires and price-gouging corporations.
Because of these lawmakers’ billionaires-first, families-last decisions, premiums in Alaska are increasing by an average of 346 percent this year, forcing families to pay more for worse coverage or go without health insurance entirely.
As ACA open enrollment ended for the last remaining states last week, over a million Americans have already dropped their ACA coverage — a number that will continue to snowball as more families, month after month, are unable to bear the cost of Trump-GOP premium hikes. So far, over 2,600 fewer Alaskan patients are enrolled in the exchange this year compared to last.
“Alaska families watching every dime to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head do not need $909 in extra health care costs. But unfortunately, Republican lawmakers like Senator Sullivan and Rep. Begich thought billionaires like Elon Musk needed another tax break more,” said Brad Woodhouse, President of Save My Care. “These Republicans choose to make the Trump unaffordability crisis worse to pad corporate profits, and now many in Alaska may have no choice to enroll in low-quality health plans that fall short when they’re needed most — or go without coverage entirely. The Trump-GOP billionaire tax giveaway that never trickles down to working people was simply not worth the cost of the Trump-GOP premium hike.”
BACKGROUND: The Trump-GOP Health Care Cuts By the Numbers in Alaska:
- 24,249 Alaskans on the state ACA marketplace are now forced to pay an average of $909 more annually for health coverage.
- Thanks to GOP premium hikes, 7,000 Alaskans will lose their health care coverage entirely this year, including small business owners, farmers, and older adults.
- A 45-year-old in Alaska making $64,000 will see their average annual premium costs rise by $7,213 to hit $13,993 this year.
- A 60-year-old couple in Alaska making $85,000 will see their average annual premium costs rise by $43,589 to hit $52,598 this year.
- A family of four in Alaska making $130,000 will see their average annual premium costs rise by $25,793 to hit $39,594 this year.
- Hospitals and clinics across Alaska are already folding under the weight of GOP cuts to Medicaid. Now, thanks to Republicans gutting the premium tax credits and hiking Alaskans’ premiums, providers in Alaska will lose an additional $87 million in funding.
Nationally:
As open enrollment ends, GOP premium hikes are:
- Putting health care out of reach for over 1 million Americans compared to the end of open enrollment last year, all to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations.
- Doubling and tripling premiums for 22 million hardworking Americans, including small business owners, farmers, and older adults.
- Forcing middle-class families to pay $20 billion in higher health care costs in 2026, while CEOs and yacht owners pocket $120 billion in tax breaks from the GOP tax scam in 2026.
- Forcing an estimated one in three Americans who buy health care on their own to reduce their coverag and pay thousands more each year in health care costs.
- Pressuring countless families to cut back on food, clothing, and other basics to afford health insurance and greater out-of-pocket costs.
This spring, the full scale of the Trump-GOP premium disaster will become clear as:
- Families are forced to choose between groceries and paying their premiums and realize they can no longer afford health care if they want to keep food on the table.
- Millions of Americans who were auto–reenrolled are kicked off their coverage when they get health care bills two to three times higher and cannot afford to pay them.
- Huge declines in effectuated enrollment are reported after families are unable to stretch their budgets to cover both GOP health care hikes and the cost of Trump tariffs.
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