Floridians get a preview of skyrocketing healthcare premiums as Democrats hold the line

Nathan Boye, a father of three from Orlando, doesn’t usually like being in the spotlight. “But I’ve been told my story matters,” he told reporters at a press conference Monday. See, Boye is currently enrolled in a health insurance plan he bought through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, like roughly 4.7 million others in Florida and upward of 24 million Americans nationwide. 

It’s more affordable for him than employer-provided insurance, currently costing just $28 a month. As someone living with diabetes, a chronic and potentially life-threatening illness, Boye relies on health insurance that’s affordable in order to maintain access to the medications he needs to stay alive. “To be blunt,” he explained, with a shrug.

But that could change very soon, if the ACA tax credits that are currently at the center of a federal funding showdown expire at the end of the year. Boye showed reporters a letter he received from his insurance provider Florida Blue over the weekend, warning him of upcoming changes to his health plan.

If he keeps the same health plan that he currently pays $28 per month for, in a couple of months’ time, his monthly premium could skyrocket to more than $700, according to the letter. “I’m going to be forced to make impossible choices that, I mean, essentially means that I could survive another day,” said Boye. “No family should have to face that.”

Boye spoke at a press conference organized by U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Orlando, who has for weeks called on U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to summon House members back to Washington, D.C., so they can negotiate a funding agreement on healthcare like adults. 

“We can even step away from the policy disagreement or agreement, just talk about the fact that Congress has been out of session for over 40 days. … We don’t even have to talk about blame,” said Frost, referring to the consistent finger-pointing that has taken place between Republicans and Democrats.

Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has argued it’s in Senate Democrats’ hands to reach a deal on federal funding and allow the government to reopen. Frost believes that line of thinking “makes zero sense.”

“Mike Johnson says the House of Representatives will not go to work until the government opens. The government will not open unless we go to work to open up the government,” Frost said. “I mean, it makes absolutely zero sense.” His far-right colleague, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, has similarly called Johnson’s failure to bring them back to work “embarrassing.”

“I have no problem pointing fingers at everyone. And the worst thing that I, that I just can’t get over, is we’re not working right now. And I put that criticism directly on the speaker of the House,” Greene said during an appearance on ABC News program The View.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank, an estimated 93 percent of Americans who buy insurance through the ACA marketplace — roughly 22 million — currently benefit from these enhanced tax credits that are set to expire at the end of 2025. 

Without those tax credits, health insurance costs for ACA plans (also known as Obamacare) are expected to go up hundreds or even thousands of dollars for low- and middle-income earners per year, just in premiums alone. The Orlando Sentinel reported over the weekend that locals like Boye are already getting “sticker shock” from health insurance renewal letters they’re receiving in the mail.

Eric Rollings, another Orlando local who’s self-employed (and the former chair of the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District board), told reporters Monday that he faces a roughly 113 percent healthcare premium hike to his Florida Blue health plan — from $581.25 per month to $1,238.97 per month come Jan. 1. “Just six weeks ago, I joined 1.2 million people who have received a heart stent in the past year. I don’t have an option to go without insurance,” he said.

The medication his doctor prescribes for him, a common medication for those who have gone through a heart stent procedure, is “essential,” but costs over $2,600 a month for a 180-day supply without insurance.

“I think that this is a really insane and hurtful increase,” Rollings admitted. “And for me, for my friends that own businesses and restaurants, I want to apologize in advance, because I’m probably not going to be able to see you, at least for the time being, because I don’t know where this is going.”

The federal government shutdown that has highlighted this sharp rise in healthcare premiums began Oct. 1 and is on its way to becoming the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The ACA enhanced tax credits at stake were first established in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and reportedly spurred a significant increase in the number of people enrolled in health insurance.

Healthcare advocates have warned that, if the tax credits do expire, an estimated 4 to 5 million Americans will lose coverage in 2026, due to unaffordability. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” enacted in July, already started “the destruction of our healthcare system,” Frost shared, referring to the millions of Americans who are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage over the next decade, plus the legislation’s anticipated impacts on nursing homes, hospitals and community health centers.

Rising health insurance costs also come amid an ongoing affordability crisis, said State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, who also joined Frost’s press conference. 

Smith has filed legislation for consideration by Florida lawmakers in 2026 that would cap insulin costs at $35 per month — something a growing number of states have already done — and guarantee 12 weeks of paid parental leave for state employees, if passed. Rental costs in Orange County are also up at least 30 percent since 2020, and lawmakers have filed a slew of bills that aim to address homeowners’ property insurance woes this next year, too.

“These [ACA] subsidies have been a lifeline to these families,” said Smith. He also renewed Florida Democrats’ call for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to tap into emergency state funding to provide food assistance for Florida’s nearly 3 million SNAP recipients. 

Benefits for the federal Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, sometimes called “food stamps,” have been frozen this month as the USDA claims that funding for the program has run out.

And while the Trump administration has been ordered by a federal judge to tap into its own contingency funds to fund SNAP during the government shutdown, the administration has only agreed to pay up to 50 percent of benefits for households, and it’s still unclear when that will actually trickle down to Florida’s recipients.

Local hunger relief organizations like Second Harvest Food Bank and United Against Poverty are currently scrambling to pick up the slack.

“Under state law, [DeSantis] can declare a state of emergency on food insecurity, and he can tap into the nearly $5 billion of our state’s rainy day fund to temporarily cover the cost of SNAP benefits that are not currently available,” Smith said. DeSantis has renewed a state of emergency on immigration over a dozen times, and Smith said the governor should recognize the same urgency here, too.

“When he renewed that state — so-called ‘state of emergency’ — he tapped into over $300 million in public money to build the Everglades detention camp that they called Alligator Alcatraz,” Smith pointed out. “Why can’t he declare a state of emergency on food insecurity to make sure that children across the state of Florida are fed?” He asked. “It is about priorities.”

DeSantis has rejected Democrats’ calls to declare a state of emergency over the issue. However, on Monday, DeSantis did vaguely commit to mobilizing the state agriculture department to assist in food aid, without providing specifics on how that would work. 

Florida Democrats on Tuesday, meanwhile, renewed their call for the Republican governor, pointing to the recent action taken by the Trump administration to commit half.

“Now that the courts have ordered Washington to pay half of SNAP benefits, the governor has even less of an excuse to ignore our calls for a State of Emergency on food insecurity,” said Senate Democratic leader Lori Berman in a statement.

“Ron DeSantis has always been more concerned with what’s going on in Washington than how he can help the people of Florida,” she added. “He should join us in being more worried about what he can actually control — keeping Florida’s families fed. Now he can do it at half the price.”

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