Seniors looking at threefold increase

Congress is preparing to let health insurance subsidies expire for millions of Americans, and the consequences will fall hardest on those ill equipped to absorb the blow: the self-employed or working and retired adults aged 50 to 64.

If the One Big Beautiful Bill becomes law without extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, the results will be disastrous - especially in places like Johnson County.

Under current law, the ACA caps premium payments for marketplace plans at 8.5% of a household's income.

That provision, extended through 2025 under the Inflation Reduction Act, has helped many early retirees and working seniors afford coverage during the critical years before Medicare eligibility. But if Congress fails to act, those protections will vanish in 2026.

In Johnson County - where nearly 46.7% of residents are over the age of 50, including 18% who are over 65 (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, 2023) - the pain will be real and immediate. A 60-year-old earning $60,000 today pays roughly $425 per month under the current subsidy cap (8.5% of income). Without that subsidy, the same individual could be charged the full market premium: $1,471 per month for a Bronze plan or $1,891 per month for a Silver plan, according to Salusion's 2025 Wyoming rate analysis. That equates to $17,652 to $22,692 annually - a threefold increase. For seniors on fixed incomes, it's unaffordable.

Many will drop coverage. Others will forgo care. And in a rural county like ours, the burden will fall on the Johnson County Healthcare Center which is already stretched thin from cuts to property taxes and bad debt write-offs.

This isn't just bad policy. It's dangerous policy. And it's not just bad for Johnson County - it's bad for Wyoming and for the country. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 4.2 million more Americans will be uninsured by 2034 if these tax credits are allowed to expire. Among those hardest hit: older adults, rural residents and small business owners.

We urge Sen. John Barrasso, Sen. Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman to reconsider this provision of the bill. Our representatives must defend the interests of their constituents-not by making health insurance unattainable to all but the wealthy, but by extending these tax credits to ensure seniors are not left to fend for themselves when it comes to health care.

Seniors between the ages of 50 and 64 make up a huge constituency in Johnson County and the state. Voters vote their pocketbooks and tripling the cost of health insurance will have a severe effect at the ballot box.