One hundred thousand Virginians have lost health insurance coverage this year as a result of higher premiums.
You can thank the president and our MAGAs in Congress – Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith, Jen Kiggans, John McGuire, Rob Wittman – for that Big Ugly Bill passed and signed into law a year ago this week for that.
“Most Virginians losing Marketplace coverage this year do not have any other options for health insurance coverage,” said Keven Patchett, executive director of the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange, which is in charge of a new state health insurance affordability program that could help those who have had to go off the insurance rolls, and thousands more who are close to having to make that awful decision.
The $150 million Virginia Health Insurance Affordability Fund can save qualifying consumers on Virginia’s Insurance Marketplace as much as 70 percent on their monthly premiums.
Virginia Marketplace consumers are seeing an average increase of 75 percent in what they pay for health insurance premiums this year – the result of a 22 percent increase in premiums by the health insurance carriers and the expiration of the federal enhanced premium tax credits.
Some consumers were able to hang on by enrolling in lower tier plans with less costly premiums; others were priced out altogether or canceled their plans after just a few months.
Enrollment in the Marketplace has dropped by 20 percent compared to this time last year.
“The new Virginia affordability program can help reverse that trend,” said Holly Mortlock, deputy director of external affairs and policy at the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange. “The Virginians who will benefit from this represent a diverse population in every region in the Commonwealth.”
The new affordability program is targeted to Virginians with household incomes between 138 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
This group accounts for roughly 45 percent of Virginians who have lost Marketplace coverage this year, according to Health Benefit Exchange data.
The affordability fund will be available for qualifying Virginians with a Marketplace plan in 2027.
Open Enrollment begins Nov. 1 and runs through Dec. 31.
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Chris Graham
