Because Donald Trump and Republicans ripped away health care tax credits from over 24 million Americans, hard-working people are now logging onto the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace for open enrollment, finding that their health plans are more than double last year’s, and are making gut-wrenching decisions. Real people are telling their stories: A Florida woman diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer will have to decide between her treatment, her rent, or feeding her children, because if her health costs jump even a little bit, her budget will be strained. A Connecticut mother is delaying bilateral knee replacements, rethinking where she buys groceries, and might even need her kids to pick up summer jobs to help cover the spike in her premiums. A late-stage cancer patient, facing the devastation that she will become uninsured, is racing to fit in all the scans and appointments she can, saying, “I have fought this so hard. I want to live.”
Americans deserve to know exactly who is being screwed over by Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, and Protect Our Care will continue to tell their stories. The following 41 haunting accounts — along with the previous 29 and 18 testimonies — come from hard-working Americans that the GOP decided to put on the chopping block to fund tax breaks for their billionaire friends.
Skylar Trujillo, 29, Spring Hill, Florida
- “As politicians deadlock in Washington, Skylar Trujillo, a Florida mother with breast cancer, is scared she won’t be able to find the low-cost health insurance she needs during her treatment.”
- “‘That $14 premium is saving my life,’ said Trujillo, a Spring Hill mother of four who was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and spoke at a Florida Democratic Party news conference Monday. ‘For my premium to go up … to even $50 a month, it would potentially push my family over a financial cliff. I will have to choose between continuing my care, paying my rent and feeding my children.’”
- “‘Cancer is not red or blue,’ she said. ‘It is not Republican or Democratic. Anybody is one diagnosis away from cancer.’” [Orlando Sentinel]
Renee Shallis, Milford, Connecticut
- “Her family will have to rethink everything — from where they buy groceries to whether they can reuse last year’s winter coats — and how they’ll keep up with utility bills for the larger house they just moved into. In the meantime, she’s putting major plans on hold, like postponing a family vacation for the fourth year in a row and delaying her bilateral knee replacements to treat worsening arthritis. ‘I wanted to get it done before my kids graduate high school, so I want them around to help me while I’m recovering from that,’ Shallis said. ‘But I’m definitely gonna have to put that on hold, and I don’t know if that’s going to be indefinite or not.’”
- “Other options to help cover the premium spike may include her kids finding summer jobs to help with some of the costs that Shallis would have covered, such as school lunches or field trips. Shallis said her sons are starting to look at colleges, but she worries about her current finances and incoming changes may impact their futures.” [CT Insider]
Sunni Montgomery, 63
- “At 63, Montgomery is facing a relentless battle with lung cancer. Since 2022, she’s undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, relying on her ACA marketplace plan to cover the mounting costs. Thanks to enhanced subsidies, her premium this year was $541 a month — just manageable with Social Security Disability and a part-time job. But next year, without those subsidies, she says her premium is set to soar to $1,758 a month — far outside her budget.
- “‘I have to face the reality that I am probably going to become a late-stage cancer patient who’s uninsured,’ Montgomery said. ‘I have fought this so hard. I want to live.’ Now on daily oxygen and getting scans every three months, she says she’s at high risk for recurrence. Without insurance, those lifesaving treatments will be out of reach.
- “‘If I’m not getting scans and we don’t know if something’s recurred, then what that can mean is the end of me,’ said Montgomery, who is racing to squeeze in every scan and checkup she can before her coverage expires.” [CNN]
Steve Gomez, Gilbert, Arizona
- “His son had a heart transplant as a baby and now has epilepsy. The plan Gomez’s family is currently on won’t be available next year, Gomez said. ‘It’s just sucker punch after sucker punch,’ Gomez said.” [KJZZ]
Todd Fliss, Petersburg, Illinois
- “In Petersburg, Illinois, retired resident Todd Fliss says his monthly payments are set to soar from $564 to nearly $1,400 starting January 1 — a jump of more than $800. ‘I knew things were changing given the administration and expected a bump,’ Fliss said, ‘but not $1,400 a month versus $560.’”
- “‘If this is indicative of what is transpiring, it’s just wrong,’ Fliss said. ‘When it gets to $1,400 a month, it doesn’t make sense.’” [NBC Palm Springs]
Briana Vasquez, California
- “Vasquez told ABC News she currently pays about $282 a month for health insurance through ACA health care coverage for her and her two children. She said she would pay $1,003 a month for the same plan next year, when the enhanced tax credits expire. ‘It feels never-ending, and it feels like, what American dream?’ Vasquez said. ‘Paying more for everything, that doesn’t feel like a dream to me, really.’” [ABC]
Michelle Unger, Gilbert, Arizona
- “Michelle Unger is a self-employed author in Gilbert. She and her husband are both independent contractors and both have pre-existing conditions; the Affordable Care Act was their family’s lifeline. When open enrollment started this month, Unger says the numbers were shocking. ‘I was sitting out in my office, and I feel like my chest caved in. I was like oh my god this is insane,’ Unger said. Her family’s monthly premium jumped overnight, from about $2,100 a month to $4,170 a month.” [ABC15]
Noell Resil, 28, Phoenix, Arizona
- “I want to chase my dreams and go after building my photography business. I would rather, in my opinion, make less money and be happier doing what I love and find a way to make it work than be miserable at a 9-to-5 and have insurance. I think, unfortunately, I’m just going to have to weigh the pros and cons. This might be my best option — to pay nearly $500 a month.” [Washington Post]
John Cleveland, Austin, Texas
- “He hasn’t forgotten the pile of hospital bills that awaited him after he had a seizure while tending to customers in his Austin, Texas, barbershop four years ago. Once doctors hurriedly removed the dangerous tumor growing on his brain, a weeklong hospital stay, months of therapy, and nearly $250,000 worth of medical expenses followed.”
- “The coverage he has purchased for years through the Affordable Care Act marketplace covered most of those bills. ‘That saved my ass,’ said Cleveland, who owns three barbershops across the city.” [Fortune]
Ashton Young, Arizona
- “A few years ago, Young said she was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of asthma. Her treatment requires monthly injections, doctor visits and medicine, all of which she said cost about $8,000 a month. Last year, she was able to apply for a plan through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, scoring one for only $38 a month. ‘It allowed me to have a lot of freedom and afford my healthcare,’ she said.”
- “But now, Young says that care may be out of reach after recently being notified that her insurance premium will increase by nearly 1,000%. ‘It just comes at the cost of my financial future in a way,’ Young said. ‘I’ll stop contributing to my retirement and savings, which I was hoping to use to buy a house one day.’” [AZ Family]
Justin Miller, California
- “Most of the roughly 20 employees who work on Justin Miller’s 113-year-old family fruit farm in rural Northern California purchase coverage through the Obamacare marketplace. He’s agonizing over what it could mean if health insurance through the marketplace becomes unaffordable for his employees. He fears they might consider leaving his farm for a job that comes with health coverage.”
- “‘Being a small-business owner, especially in a field like ours, where it is tough work and we really understand how hard everybody works, we have to look everybody in the eyes every day,’ Miller said. ‘Knowing that they’re going to have to pay $4,000 or $5,000 more a year to stay on their insurance is a tough pill to swallow.’” [Fortune]
David Delfiner, California
- “Parsons and Delifner, who are retired and on fixed income, are seeing an even bigger increase. They spent $4,200 on health care premiums last year but will spend $26,652 on the same plan next year, according to a Covered California letter dated Oct. 21. If they buy that policy, it will amount to 28% of their total income, drastically above what the Biden-era subsidies would have prevented.”
- “‘It’s not even like we’re getting Cadillac health care. That’s just catastrophic insurance with basic care,’ she said. Delfiner said the couple is now considering moving to a foreign country where health care is more affordable, or just going uninsured.” [SFGATE]
Gary Epperley, 59, San Jose, California
- “Given all the headlines recently, I was expecting a fairly big jump. But 156 percent is still shocking. I didn’t expect it was going to be that much.” [Washington Post]
Diane Swintal, 63, Irvine, California
- “I’m definitely going down to a bronze plan. I have to — 1,200 bucks is not something I can pay each month.” [Washington Post]
Astrid Storey, 45, Denver, Colorado
- “Colorado mom Astrid Storey, a thyroid cancer patient with an autoimmune disorder, was recently notified that her monthly premiums under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will jump by nearly $500 in 2026. A naturalized U.S. citizen from Panama, she said she’s now contemplating what was once unthinkable: giving up her American dream and moving to a country with universal health care.”
- “‘I have a lot of feelings about being run out of my country because of health care costs,’ Storey said. ‘The American dream is a disappointment when it comes to health care.’” [ABC News]
Kristin McShane, Norwich, Connecticut
- “Next year, she said, their payments are expected to jump by $1,000, marking a 115% increase, if the subsidies expire. Altogether, McShane said her family would pay about $22,000 a year for coverage, which is more than her annual salary — and that’s before copayments. ‘The cost of everything else has gone up, and it kind of gets to the point where you’re like, Well, how much more can we cut back on?’ McShane said. ‘We don’t really take vacations. We both drive cars that are over 10 years old. How much more can you really sacrifice at some point?’” [CT Insider]
Nathan Boye, Orlando, Florida
- “Right now, Boye said he pays $28 a month for his ACA plan. That amount covers 90% of the medications he needs to stay healthy. A few days ago, Boye received a letter from his insurer stating his monthly premium will soon go up to $733. ‘Unless something changes, I’m going to be forced to make impossible choices,’ Boye said. ‘No family should have to face that. … We deserve a system where staying healthy is not a luxury.’” [WUSF]
Kara Farley, Boynton Beach, Florida
- “Her husband also has Type 1 diabetes and suffers from seizures, she said, and often had diabetic episodes that sent him to the emergency room when the couple wasn’t fully covered. Farley, who is now undergoing treatment for a malignant melanoma, said her insurance premiums are now expected to double. ‘I honestly don’t know where we’ll find that extra money in our budget, and I don’t want to be back in a position where we’re trying to decide if I can get treatment or my husband does,’ she said.” [Politico]
Elizabeth Wick, 57, Texas
- “A therapist who focuses on sexual assault survivors, she launched a full-time private practice earlier this year but depends on Obamacare coverage since she has preexisting medical conditions. However, having to pay three times her current tab is unaffordable and could force her to give up her practice and find a job that offers health benefits. ‘Health insurance will determine what my life will look like, whether or not I can continue with my private practice,’ said Wick, who ruminates over the situation before she goes to sleep and when she’s out for her daily walks.” [CNN]
Felecia Suber, Houston, Texas
- “Felecia Suber spent weeks calculating, agonizing over and bracing for what her son’s new monthly health care premiums might be when enrollment opened Nov. 1 for insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.”
- “‘We still may just go to a catastrophic plan and just hope for the best,’ Felecia said. ‘He’s a very healthy, athletic young man, he takes care of his body really well. Of course, anybody could get in an accident tomorrow. Things like that happen.’” [Houston Public Media]
Tim Krause, Florida
- “‘I’m paying about $640 a month right now for my plan. And I clicked the link and entered my birthday and found out that my plan was going to $1,100 a month,’ Krause said. With his premium nearly doubling, Krause is unsure how he’ll make up the difference. He has a pre-existing condition and says going without coverage isn’t an option. ‘It’s not like I can just not have health insurance, like I will die if I don’t have health insurance,’ he said.”
- “‘I don’t think frustrating is a good word for it. I think absolutely terrifying is what it is,’ he said.” [CBS]
Linda Misner, Tampa, Florida
- “‘For the first time in our lives, we will go without health insurance,’ said Linda Misner, a businesswoman in Tampa. ‘We do the best we can, but we can’t afford $40,000 a year in just health care premiums.’”
- “Misner said she has a basic insurance plan and would still have to pay out of pocket, on top of her increased premium. ‘We will be part of the uninsured in Florida, which just blows my mind, honestly, and how is that acceptable?’ she said.” [WFLA]
Beth Hoffman, Lovilia, Iowa
- “Because Hoffman and her partner operate a small business and do freelance work, they rely on the Affordable Care Act Marketplace to buy health insurance. They currently pay about $200 a month for a bronze plan that’s not great, she said.”
- “The couple earns close to 400% of the federal poverty level. If they go over that mark with the end of the federal enhanced ACA tax credits, this year, they will fall off a steep income cliff.” [Iowa Public Radio]
Eric Rollings, Orlando, Florida
- “He said he relies on several medications since receiving a heart stent. ‘It’s an essential medication, and (an) 80-day supply without insurance is $2,600.99. So I don’t have an option to be without health care. And that’s just one medication,’ Rollings said.”
- “‘I think that this is a really insane and hurtful increase,’ Rollings said. ‘There are a lot of people that are dealing with things way worse than what I’m going through — with cancers, with pediatric cancer. All these people are not going to have coverage if they can’t pay their insurance.’” [WUSF]
Meredith Eilers, Bowdoinham, Maine
- “She’s an attorney, he’s an organic vegetable farmer. Until a few years ago, they had health insurance through Eilers’ employer, a Portland-based law firm. But in 2020, she decided to open up her own practice. And she says she could take that leap because of the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. ‘We were able to ensure our entire family actually for less than through my employer at the time,’ Eilers says, ‘so it worked out pretty well for us.’”
- “But now that the enhanced subsidies are set to expire, Eilers says their premiums next year will skyrocket to more than $1,400 a month. ‘I mean, we were shocked,’ she says. ‘We had heard okay, might double, might go up as much as, like, two, three, maybe even four times as much. But this is approximately nine times what we had been paying.’” [Maine Public]
Daniel Fuller, Orlando, Florida
- “Fuller says if government subsidies to lower his monthly payments expire at the end of 2025, his current level of coverage will cost $1,100 per month. He says he may be forced to select a lower-level bronze plan if that is the case.”
- “‘I don’t know how any individual or family could afford $900 per month for a very base level, basic health care plan,’ he said.” [Spectrum News]
Chris, 62, and Donna, 60, Vetter, Somerset County, Maryland
- “Chris and Donna Vetter have made the agonizing decision to drop their health insurance, saying they simply cannot afford it. They relied on their ACA plan — reduced to $401 a month by the enhanced subsidies — to manage Donna’s asthma and Chris’ atrial fibrillation. But next year, their premium is set to skyrocket to $1,975 a month — nearly half their income. They pored over options on the ACA marketplace but say even the cheapest plans hovered near $1,000 a month.
- “‘I’m just scared, and I don’t know what to do,’ Donna said. ‘If anything should go wrong — God forbid a car accident, heart attack, cancer — we’ll have nothing.’” [CNN]
Jeremy Tolbert, 47, Lawrence, Kansas
- “‘I’ve been hearing stories about the price increases, so I’ve been dreading this week,’ Jeremy Tolbert, a 47-year-old web developer in Lawrence, Kansas, told CBS News. When he logged into his state’s marketplace, he was dismayed to find out that his current plan’s monthly premium is set to rise to $2,600 a month next year, up from $2,200 a month in 2025.”
- “‘I already pay a significant portion of my income for this insurance,’ he noted. ‘What the hell am I paying for at this point?’” [CBS]
Stephanie Barr, Prairie Village, Kansas
- “Stephanie Barr of Prairie Village, Kansas, is a breast cancer survivor. Her healing journey, however, is still going on. Radiation caused complications — a staph infection and an open wound — which required a brief hospital stay and, so far, two years of treatment. Now, Stephanie is nearly healed, thanks in part to a tax credit she’s received from the Affordable Care Act. But that credit is set to expire at the end of the year, which could mean significant bumps in her coverage costs. ‘I am so close to having this wound healed but I am also now at a risk of losing my health insurance because my health insurance is set to go from $21.70 a month to well over $600,’ Barr said.” [KCUR]
Penny Collins, New Gloucester, Maine
- “Penny Collins of New Gloucester also got sticker shock when she shopped for marketplace health plans for her family of four. ‘What I saw filled me with such panic, I closed my laptop and just walked out of our office,’ she says.”
- “But next year, she says their premiums will nearly double to $33,000 a year. She’s not sure what they’re going to do. ‘Every day I’m hoping something changes,’ Collins says. ‘I am delaying making a decision in the marketplace. We will use every minute of this open enrollment.’” [Maine Public]
Alison and Chris, Carson City, Nevada
- “This year, they are paying only $183 a month after nearly $1,350 in subsidies. But next year, their policy will cost $936 after some subsidies. They are contemplating buying a less expensive plan with a much higher deductible, though that will force them to think twice about going to urgent care or the emergency room. ‘Just to even be in a situation where you have to think about, well, do I really need it? Do I really need that medication? Do I really need to go to the urgent care? God forbid, do I really need to go to the ER or can I, for lack of a better word, suck it up?’ said Alison, who asked that only her first name be used because of her husband’s former profession. ‘I mean those are all decisions that we’re going to be forced to have to make.’” [CNN]
Becky Montpetit, Rochester, Minnesota
- “Last year, we received a premium tax credit of $381 for our family a month. That brought our health insurance price down to $1,560 a month for a family of four this year,” she said. ‘Right now, it looks like the best option for a family is going to be about $2,200 a month.’”
- “Back at her home office, Becky Montpetit said she and her husband may have to dip into their retirement savings to pay for a new plan. They’re both considering taking second jobs with health insurance benefits. She said it seems unfair to raise insurance costs on artists, entrepreneurs, and other professionals who venture out and are self-employed. ‘It does feel as though we’re penalized for seeking a non-traditional career path by having to pay exorbitant health care prices,’ she said.” [MPR News]
Nolan LeRoux, 35, and Emily Clute, 35, Bethlehem, New York
- “The couple, both 35, were set to get married on Saturday but have considered not filing their license after the ceremony. That’s because they are more likely to qualify for Obamacare’s original subsidies as individuals than as a married couple — the income threshold for a couple is less than double that of a single person.
- “Ultimately, though, the stress of not having health insurance would be greater than the concern of how to pay for it since anything could happen, like being hit by a drunk driver, LeRoux said. ‘There are not many things health care-wise that are particularly affordable,’ he said. ‘It’d be a lot of stress because I don’t know exactly how we would pay for a medical bill that was in the five figures.’” [CNN]
Daniel Ayers, North Carolina
- “On Monday, Ayers allowed himself to open up the healthcare.gov portal to take a look at what his 2026 premiums would be. ‘To put it bluntly, I was stunned,’ Ayers said. ‘The cost has gone up so much, now I do have to face it. Will I go without insurance next year? Just hoping I don’t get sick or injured.’” [NC Newsline]
Sarah Cunningham, Hatboro, Pennsylvania
- “Another Pennie customer, Sarah Cunningham of Hatboro, said her premium will climb by more than 300%. She credits her coverage with saving her life after a cancer scare five years ago, but the price jump came as a shock.”
- “‘I was expecting like 50%, but I wasn’t expecting it to go up over three times the amount,’ Cunningham said. ‘Little things, like basic needs, I’m going to have to cut down on.’” [CBS Philadelphia]
Paul Lyon, 61, Moscow, Pennsylvania
- “For Paul Lyon, a self-employed man from Moscow, Pennsylvania, those numbers hit home. He found out Saturday his cost is going from $688 to $1142 a month. ‘Nobody in my opinion should have to spend even $688 a month on health insurance, much less over $1000. So that just jacked my monthly cost up by over $450. That’s a car payment,’ said Lyon.”
- “At 61, Lyon says going without coverage isn’t an option. ‘I’m not going to go without health insurance. I can’t go without health insurance, so I’m stuck. The future is I’m stuck,’ said Lyon.” [Fox56]
Megan Read, Pennsylvania
- “For small business owners like Megan Read, the increase is significant. The Philadelphia-based wedding photographer said her monthly premium is rising from about $230 to nearly $400.”
- “Read, who has an autoimmune disease, said she may have to give up dental and vision coverage to afford her new premium.”
- “‘My health care is more than a car payment at this point, which is crazy,’ Read said. ‘It makes you think twice about what you’re spending money on. Not only as a small business owner, but as an individual trying to survive in this economy.’” [CBS Philadelphia]
Terrineka Maxwell, Memphis, Tennessee
- “Terrineka Maxwell told FOX13 she relies on ACA coverage for all of her children. ‘It’s going to make it ten times worse for the mothers that have sick babies already,’ she explained. ‘Hospital bill’s not cheap.’” [Fox13]
Ashley Thompson, Austin, Texas
- “Ashley Thompson of Austin, Texas, said she and her husband are weighing whether to drop their health coverage next year and insure only their two children to make the financials work.”
- “That expense, almost $43,000 a year, would account for roughly a third or more of their household income — and that’s before even using the insurance, said Thompson, 49, who is a ceramic artist and physical trainer. ‘Quite frankly, it’s terrifying,’ she said.” [CNBC]
Kris McKegney, 23, Vermont
- “Kris McKegney, 23, now pays $300 a month after subsidies for a higher-end plan with only a $3,000 annual deductible. Keeping the same plan would cost him $1,250 a month because he doesn’t expect to qualify for any assistance. That amount is out of the question, said the self-employed accountant.
- “‘The tax credits have helped millions of people access health care, and it seems very cruel to then take that away,’ he said.” [CNN]
Cyan Kelly, Marshfield, Wisconsin
- “The Marshfield area resident says she has numerous medical conditions including multiple sclerosis. ‘I need health insurance,’ said Kelly, an independent research contractor who also works retail.”
- “Over the last few weeks, she’s been waiting anxiously to see whether the enhanced credits are extended by Congress. ‘I hope they are,’ Kelly said. ‘But I don’t have anything beyond hope.’” [WPR]