Canceled health plans and decreased coverage: Loss of health care subsidies hit hard in southeastern Connecticut

Going without health insurance was never on the table for Jill Baral — even after her monthly premium jumped $1,000.

Baral, who is retired and lives in Niantic, is paying $1,386 a month for a bronze health care plan with Anthem. Up until Dec. 31, her monthly premium, which included vision and dental coverage, cost just $386.

Millions of Americans who benefited from health insurance subsidies saw their monthly premiums skyrocket this month when the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits expired Jan. 1.

With the loss of the subsidy, Baral said she is now foregoing vision and dental insurance, but health care coverage was nonnegotiable.

“Twenty years ago, our 14-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia,” Baral said. “I know how in a second, your dependence upon having insurance or healthcare is crucial to your life.”

“I wouldn't go without healthcare, … and that's exactly why when I hear that people are going to drop their insurance because of the loss of the credits, (it) scares me so much,” Baral said. “My hairdresser had said, ‘(If) my premiums went up that much, I would just have to drop it then just go without,’ and that terrified me.”

The tax credit, which has lowered the cost of health care for more than 20 million Americans since its adoption in 2021, was slashed from the federal budget in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill.

On Thursday, House lawmakers voted 230-196 to restore the subsidies for the next three years, a move that would increase the U.S. insured population by more than 8.2 million and drive up the national deficit by $81 billion, according to 2030 projections calculated by the Congressional Budget Office.

Insurance enrollment drops by double digits

As the subsidy program faces an uncertain future in the Senate, the state of Connecticut has extended the open enrollment period to Jan. 31 and set aside more than $117 million to replace all or a portion of the lost benefits for some households.

As recently as October, 143,320 Connecticut residents were receiving enhanced federal subsidies, including 25,775 people in eastern Connecticut’s Second Congressional District, according to a report from Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance marketplace.

Statewide, the number of residents enrolled in coverage for 2026 through Access Health CT is down by more than 10,000 — a 6.5% drop compared to last month, when the enhanced subsidies were still in place.

Data from Access Health CT’s enrollment dashboard suggests that Connecticut’s most vulnerable populations are disproportionately delaying or forgoing ACA coverage. Statewide, ACA enrollment is down 11.4% among children, 18.3% among seniors, and 16.9% among individuals with disabilities, according to an analysis of the data.

For those who are continuing coverage, Access Health CT CEO James Michel said the marketplace is finding that more consumers are “buying down” and enrolling in higher deductible plans with lower monthly premiums.

According to Access Health CT’s spokesperson Kathleen Tallarita, 60% of consumers who switched insurance “downgraded to a plan with higher member costs when using services, most likely to find premium savings.”

She cautioned that Access Health CT enrollment numbers “fluctuate during the year as people may move in and out of coverage depending on their personal circumstances.”

In a report last February, Access Health CT estimated that the average subsidy shaved more than $1,000 off monthly premiums.

One family of four in eastern Connecticut with a household income of $125,000 was receiving more than $2,400 in monthly savings, according to Access Health CT. With the enhanced federal subsidy, they said the family’s monthly premium was just under $900 last year. Without the subsidy, Access Health CT estimated that the family’s costs would more than triple to roughly $3,000 — consuming nearly a third of the household’s monthly income.

‘My insurance is more than my mortgage’

With the enhanced premium tax credits gone, residents in eastern Connecticut reported devastating financial implications.

“I have clients that are paying $2,300 a month,” said Darlene Hayes, a broker and owner of Happy Insurance Service in Niantic. “People are saying things like, ‘Dang, my insurance is more than my mortgage, my insurance is more than my car note — how can we do this?’”

“They're very baffled,” Hayes added. “They're upset, they're emotional, and I get upset and I get emotional because … I do what I do to help people, and in this situation, my hands are tied.”

While some clients can stomach the added costs, Hayes said others are not so lucky.

Hayes explained that one couple recently decided to remove themselves from their family’s insurance plan after their monthly premium multiplied from around $500 to $2,300. The parents are still paying over $900 a month to keep their two children insured.

Hayes said some of her self-employed clients, like contractors and real estate agents, are even searching for ways to reduce their monthly income in order to qualify for benefits that would bring their family’s premiums down to a price their household can afford.

Jeanne Clark, a broker and founder of Diversified Group Services, Inc. in Mystic, has been writing health plans since the ACA marketplace opened in 2014. She said the challenges her clients are facing this open enrollment period are unlike anything she has encountered.

“This is totally, totally different, and it's hitting everybody for different reasons,” Clark said.

She said the expired subsidies have hit residents in their 30s and 40s the hardest, especially those with medical concerns.

“You take someone that has diabetes, who is self-employed, they really don't have any place to go,” Clark said. “They're going to be medically underwritten, so they're not going to be accepted (by private insurance). They can't afford the premium on the exchange. So it's a very difficult situation for them.”

Clark said more and more clients are flocking to lower-premium insurance options off the exchange. While some of these private plans are a viable option for those who lost their subsidies, Clark said many consumers have been duped by vendors offering cheaper, non-ACA-compliant plans. She explained that many of these policies provide only partial coverage that could lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for some prescription drugs, skilled nursing care, hospital visits and more.

State subsidies ‘Not a long-term solution’

The other concern is that if Congress restores the ACA subsidies, consumers who purchased private options will need to wait for next year’s open enrollment period to get back on the exchange.

If the subsidies do not return, Access Health CT said in February that the financial fallout “will impact everyone,” increasing annual insurance costs by an average of $1,800 for residents in eastern Connecticut.

“Without affordable health insurance, many will choose to go uninsured. The insured population will include those that need more care, which will drive up claims. And when claims increase, premiums increase for everyone,” Access Health CT explained. “Furthermore, hospitals will continue to treat those who are uninsured and unable to pay, further increasing uncompensated hospital costs that are then passed along to consumers.”

Gov. Ned Lamont applauded House lawmakers’ extension of the subsidies on Thursday, adding that “Now we need the Senate to take up and pass this bipartisan bill without delay.”

“Failure to enact this bill into law will result in healthcare costs skyrocketing for millions of Americans,” Lamont said. “Here in Connecticut, we’ve taken action on the state level to help bring some of the costs down for people who receive coverage through Access Health CT, but it’s not a long-term solution and we need the Senate to act. The consequences of inaction are too severe to ignore.”

The state of Connecticut is footing the cost to replace the lost subsidies for residents enrolled in the state’s no-cost health care program, Covered CT, and those enrolled in insurance through Access Health CT whose annual household income falls between 100% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Level — a range of $15,650 to $31,300 for individuals and $32,150 to $64,300 for families of four.

The state is also covering 50% of the lost subsidies for households that earn between 400% and 500% of the Federal Poverty Level. To qualify, a single adult must make $62,600 to $78,250 a year, and a family of four must make $128,600 to $160,750.

The new state subsidies expire on Dec. 31, 2026, for Access Health CT Enrollees and June 30, 2027, for Covered CT recipients.

Notably, the state program does not cover those who earn between 200% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. In a statement, Access Health CT’s spokesperson said this group is eligible for other federal subsidies that have not expired.

Tallarita said these households “may be receiving higher or similar subsidy amounts for 2026.” However, some residents and insurance brokers have found that this is not always the case.

At $98,000, Baral said the income she shares with her husband is “too high to qualify for Gov. Lamont's plan.”

They exceeded the cutoff for a state subsidy by $13,400, and as a result, Baral is preparing to pay an extra $12,000 this year for insurance.

Baral said she and her husband have scaled back contributions to their grandchildren’s education accounts, put future vacation plans on hold and quieted any hopes of upgrading their 10-year-old car to a new model.

Baral said she considers herself lucky that she and her husband can afford to cut back, but she said she is most regretful that, because of the insurance costs, she will most likely need to stop donating to organizations that carried her family through her son’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.

“Now is my time to be able to help others,” Baral said. “That's where that extra thousand dollars (a month) went. It went to supporting Connecticut Children's Medical Center that had helped us for so long. It went to helping Make-A-Wish that had helped us those 20 years ago.”

“What helped make our life possible were those tax credits, and when I say our life, I mean our charitable giving, our saving for our children's future. … That's what we're losing, but so many people are losing so much more,” Baral continued. “It really sincerely breaks my heart to know that some people will change the amount of medicine they take every month, will forgo visits to their doctor. I'm lucky to be in a position where I'm healthy and I can go with a bronze plan, but there's so many people who can't, and those are the people we really need to make sure that Congress is focused on.”

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