ATLANTA — At the center of the government shutdown fight is the issue of ACA health care credits.
They are set to expire in January, and that has many Affordable Care Act policyholders on edge about soaring health insurance premiums.
ACA policyholder Teresa Acosta says she has no choice.
“It’s critical that we have coverage,” Acosta told Channel 2’s Audrey Washington.
Acosta said she has to make sure her son gets the lifesaving medication he needs to fight his Type 1 diabetes.
“He cannot go without insulin. If he didn’t have insulin, he would die in a matter of a week,” Acosta said.
But now, the cost to save her son is in the balance.
This weekend, Senate Republicans and a handful of Democrats approved a bill that would reopen the federal government.
But the deal only guarantees a December vote on health care tax credits, not an extension for Affordable Care Act tax credits.
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“With the tax credits going away, it’s going to go up to $750-$800, and that’s not something that I can afford,” Acosta said.
Georgia senators, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both voted no on the bill. They stated that they would “continue to fight for subsidies.”
But Republican Rep. Buddy Carter said, “It’s time to end the shutdown, and this bill is the path to get us there.”
Dr. Cecil Bennett with Newnan Family Medicine Associates said he worries about his patients.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Georgians will probably lose their healthcare insurance,” Bennett said. “The problem is this: if I have to send a patient to cardiology, there are several offices that require a $2,000 credit card deposit before they’ll see you if you don’t have insurance.”
Acosta told Washington that she’s now bracing herself for what’s to come.
“I cannot pay for that. I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said.
And while the deal included only a promise to vote on the ACA, those tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year.,
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