{"id":1702,"date":"2026-01-21T23:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/?p=1702"},"modified":"2026-01-21T23:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:00:39","slug":"rising-health-care-costs-push-millions-out-of-insurance-coverage-in-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/american-community-media\/rising-health-care-costs-push-millions-out-of-insurance-coverage-in-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising Health Care Costs Push Millions Out of Insurance Coverage in the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Experts warn that the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits, rising premiums, and record-high drug prices are deepening access gaps and placing growing strain on seniors and low-income fam<\/strong>.


A new government move is threatening the health of the most vulnerable in the United States. The expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, combined with soaring insurance premiums and record drug prices, is pushing millions of Americans out of health coverage, experts warned during a briefing organized by American Community Media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One out of every five dollars spent in the United States is tied to health care. The sector now represents 18% of the country\u2019s Gross Domestic Product, a figure that continues to rise and is placing increasing pressure on household budgets, small businesses, and the federal government alike. That reality framed the discussion at How Soaring Costs Are Reshaping Health Care Access<\/em>, the first in a three-part affordability series hosted by American Community Media (ACoM).<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The immediate trigger is the expiration of the expanded ACA premium tax credits. With the close of the open enrollment period, millions of people are now locked into plans whose monthly premiums have, in many cases, doubled or even tripled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing average increases of up to $1,000 a year, but in thousands of cases premiums have doubled, tripled, or quadrupled,\u201d warned Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA. \u201cPeople who were paying five or ten dollars a month are now paying hundreds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to figures cited during the briefing and recently reported by The New York Times<\/em>, at least 1.4 million people have already dropped their ACA coverage. Projections are even more alarming: up to eight million Americans could lose health insurance in the coming months if urgent federal action is not taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wright described the situation as \u201can avoidable crisis.\u201d He explained that the expired tax credits had capped the share of income families were required to spend on health insurance\u2014roughly 8% annually. \u201cThat protection disappeared in January, and what we\u2019re seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A domino effect on families, businesses, and hospitals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem extends far beyond those who lose coverage. A mass exodus from the ACA marketplace threatens to destabilize the entire system. \u201cWhen healthier people leave the insurance pool, risk concentrates and costs rise for everyone,\u201d Wright explained. \u201cThat creates a domino effect: higher premiums, fewer services, and more pressure on hospitals and community clinics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small businesses are among those hardest hit. \u201cFor many employers, the third option is simply not offering health insurance at all,\u201d said Neale Mahoney, an economist and professor at Stanford University. \u201cThat affects productivity, wages, and hiring decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahoney placed the crisis in historical context. \u201cOver two generations, health care spending has grown from 8% to 18% of GDP. The U.S. spends twice as much as other wealthy countries, not because we\u2019re sicker, but because we pay much higher prices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average annual cost of family coverage is now about $27,000, \u201cthe equivalent of buying a new car every year,\u201d Mahoney noted. For employers, especially small businesses, that translates into lower wages, hiring freezes, or layoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond premiums, copays and deductibles have become another critical barrier to care. \u201cThe evidence shows that when copays rise, people don\u2019t just cut unnecessary care, they also stop essential treatment,\u201d Mahoney explained. \u201cThey skip medications for diabetes or high blood pressure and avoid preventive checkups. In the long run, that ends up costing the system more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The economist was blunt: the cost-sharing model has proven to cause more harm than good and should be eliminated for essential medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prescription drugs: a crisis without an easy fix<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The briefing also examined one of the main drivers of rising costs: prescription drugs. Merith Basey, executive director of Patients for Affordable Drugs, was unequivocal. \u201cOne in three Americans cannot afford their prescription medications. On average, people in the U.S. pay four to eight times more than patients in other high-income countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Basey, the root of the problem is clear. \u201cPharmaceutical corporations set the prices and control the market through monopolies. For years, Congress allowed these practices to continue,\u201d she said. Unlike other countries, the U.S. has historically failed to systematically negotiate drug prices, leaving patients exposed to launch prices \u201cwith little connection to real value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basey pointed to Medicare\u2019s recent drug price negotiations as a significant step forward. Since January, ten high-cost medications\u2014including treatments for diabetes and cancer\u2014have seen average price reductions of 63%. \u201cThat\u2019s good news, but it\u2019s not enough,\u201d she cautioned. Even with annual out-of-pocket caps of $2,000, many low-income patients still face crushing financial burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A political debate still unresolved<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three speakers agreed that the crisis is as political as it is economic. \u201cThis shouldn\u2019t be a partisan issue,\u201d Wright said. \u201cMillions of people are asking for help right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahoney added that while programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and drug price negotiation work, expanding them requires confronting powerful economic interests. \u201cWhat families experience as expenses are profits for certain industries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The briefing concluded with a call to restart a broader conversation not only about restoring ACA tax credits, but about affordability, access, and regulation across the health care system. As Wright summed it up, \u201cExtending the credits should be the starting point, not the end, of the debate over health care in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts warn that the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits, rising premiums, and record-high drug prices are deepening access gaps and placing growing strain on seniors and low-income fam. A new government move is threatening the health of the most vulnerable in the United States. The expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[686],"tags":[1257,1277,196,2194,282,2376,690],"class_list":["post-1702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-community-media","tag-acom","tag-american-community-media","tag-california","tag-california-health","tag-health","tag-health-u-s","tag-healthcare"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1704,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions\/1704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}