Kathleen Winters describes her family as the epitome of the American values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
After shifting careers from academia, the Newport News mother of two found success as a small business owner, operating a doula services company for new mothers. Her husband is an adjunct professor and also runs his own translation and editing business.
Winters said the pair does well enough to make about $100,000 annually.
Despite their relative financial stability, the family could face paying as much as $1,000 more a month for health insurance next year due to expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits.
They’re not alone. Thousands of Norfolk residents could lose health coverage and face premium hikes of an average of $400 in the coming years as a result of several recent federal changes.
The effects of the coverage loss could reverberate around the city and the region, said Susan Girois, Norfolk Health District director for the Virginia Department of Health.
“We are slipping back to pre-Medicaid expansion, and probably further than that,” Girois told Norfolk City Council members at a Nov. 18 meeting. “Because health care has now become so expensive, we’re going to have a rise in uncompensated care.”
Beginning in December, health care premium tax credits for ACA marketplace health plans will expire — although the New York Times reported Tuesday that President Donald Trump is considering an extension of the tax credits for two years. Democrats in Congress unsuccessfully waged a shutdown battle earlier this year over efforts to extend the credits, but ended the impasse without securing Republican support.
Girois said those who need insurance from the marketplace will be forced to choose between either paying sometimes hundreds of dollars more for the same coverage or electing to go without health insurance.
In Norfolk, she said, many of those residents live in the northern half of the city in neighborhoods such as Ocean View, East Beach and Willoughby Spit, according to health department data.
And in 2027, due to the recently-passed federal tax cut bill Republicans pushed through Congress, about 40,000 of the 72,000 Norfolk Medicaid enrollees will need to prove they worked 80 hours a month to maintain coverage, Girois said.
Depending on how many people are unable to meet those requirements, as many as about 33,000 people could go without coverage, she said.
If more residents elect to go without insurance, that will put additional strain on local emergency services, hospitals and the rest of the health system, Girois told council members. During the meeting, Mayor Kenny Alexander said the additional costs could also mean less money coming into Norfolk city coffers.
“That’s something to think about as you start crafting the budget, because I see a downturn in spending because they just don’t have it,” Alexander said to City Manager Pat Roberts.
Winters — who spoke earlier this year about her struggles at a roundtable event with Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott — said the uncertainty was her biggest frustration. She said congressional Republicans had the whole year to work with Democrats to either extend the tax credits or come up with an alternative.
Now, she’s unsure whether to accept a worse health plan knowing she will incur much more out-of-pocket expenses or eat the cost increase for the same coverage.
“I don’t know what to sign up for,” Winters said. “I’m afraid of committing to a plan and then it radically changing.”
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
