Copyright The Boston Globe
PROVIDENCE – Monthly out-of-pocket premium payments for people who receive health insurance coverage through HealthSource RI, the state’s health care exchange, are expected to jump by just over 100 percent on average when federal tax credits expire at the end of the year, agency officials said. Advance tax credits have kept premiums down for enrollees since the benefits were passed in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, and later extended through 2025 in the Inflation Reduction Act. But the credits are anticipated to dry up on Dec. 31, unless Congressional lawmakers take action. Without the benefit, HealthSource RI enrollees are expected, on average, to see a monthly increase of 101 percent, or about $111 per person, according to spokesperson Christina O’Reilly. The change will arrive in the middle of the open enrollment period, which started on Saturday and continues until Jan. 31, 2026. The higher costs are estimated to result in about 13,100 customers dropping coverage by 2027, according to a recent report by the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Advertisement “Health insurance is a critical part of keeping people healthy and protecting their financial well-being, and maintaining a low uninsured rate is essential to the stability of our health care system,” Lindsay Lang, director of HealthSource RI, said in a statement. HealthSource RI currently has a record-high number of enrollees: More than 49,000 people are enrolled in Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island or Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island health coverage through the health care exchange, while another 8,800 are covered through HealthSource RI for Employers. Officials said, as of 2024, only 2.2 percent of Rhode Islanders were without health insurance, having dropped by more than two thirds over the past decade – a trend “boosted significantly” by the tax credits. According to HealthSource RI, however, the “average customer who was renewed for a 2026 plan with financial assistance is still eligible for $494 per month in tax credits.” Notably though, those credits do not offset the expected monthly increase next year, O’Reilly said. Advertisement “Rhode Islanders can’t absorb hundreds of extra dollars in increased costs each month for the same health care plan they already had,” US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said in a statement. Whitehouse and other Democrats have blamed Republicans over the inaction on health care subsidies, especially after Congress passed President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in July, dealing cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. “As open enrollment begins, many Rhode Islanders are being forced to make impossible choices: between affording health care next year and necessities like food and housing,” US Representative Gabe Amo said in a statement. “It’s time for Trump and Republicans to demonstrate they care by moving quickly to negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government and lower health care costs.” In a statement on Monday, Governor Dan McKee said “Washington Republicans are making health care more expensive and less accessible.” “Allowing these tax credits to expire will push many families to the breaking point,” McKee said. “President Trump has a responsibility to get his party to the table, prevent these massive spikes in health care costs, and end the shutdown.” Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
