Health Insurance Tax Credits for Kentuckians to Expire by End of 2025

This Wednesday is the last day to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Advocates say that this year is even more important for people looking for a plan because, at the end of the year, the increased tax credits that let many Kentuckians get health insurance for little or no cost each month will end.

After January 15, people who still haven’t chosen a plan will have to wait until a special enrollment time opens up in order to take advantage of the Advanced Premium Tax Credits.

Priscilla Easterling, head of outreach and enrollment for Kentucky Voices for Health, said that the number of people who don’t have health insurance could go up if families can’t afford coverage without the credits.

Eggling said, “I believe we should all be very worried.” “Enrollment will drop because families won’t be able to afford the monthly premium if these enhanced premium tax credits aren’t extended.”

A study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says that getting rid of expanded tax credits would have a big effect on older people, whose health insurance costs tend to be higher.

More than one-third of all ACA enrollees in 2024 were over the age of 50.

Easterling said that often, the credits paid for the whole plan for people with low incomes who make about $22,000 a year. These credits have saved Kentuckians thousands of dollars a year.

“They’ve been around since the beginning of the ACA,” Easterling said. “But the improved part was first made bigger in 2021.” Most families have saved more than $500 a month thanks to them.

Easterling said that people in Kentucky can use kynect.gov to find area experts who can help them get the most out of tax credits and their best plan.

“Kynectors” are available in all 120 counties, according to Easterling. “They can help and give free help to anyone who needs it on Kynect.gov or trying to get enrolled in coverage.”

The health advocacy group KFF says that more than 71,000 people in Kentucky signed up for a plan through the marketplace in 2024.

According to federal statistics, a record 24 million people across the country have signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.