To the Editor:
Time is running out for 4.7 million Floridians who depend on health care tax credits to afford their insurance premiums. While the credits don't expire until Dec. 30, Congress faces a critical Sept. 30 deadline that may represent the last opportunity to secure an extension before open enrollment begins Nov. 1.
Without congressional action, 1.5 million Floridians will lose their health coverage by the end of the year — most of them hardworking families and small business owners who don't qualify for Medicaid but can’t absorb premiums averaging 93% increases.
Florida leads the nation in marketplace enrollment, and this success is part of why our state ranks among the best in the country for business. Enhanced premium support helps small businesses attract workers and thrive by ensuring employees have affordable private insurance options.
Consider a middle-class family of four in Northwest Florida earning $129,000 annually. While they may benefit from recently extended tax cuts, those savings will be completely erased by skyrocketing health care premiums, leaving them with a significant budget shortfall.
As health care providers at Ascension St. Vincent’s Health System, we see how insurance coverage affects patients’ ability to access timely, preventive care. Affordable private insurance keeps patients in primary care settings, keeps them out of emergency rooms for basic needs and strengthens hospitals by reducing uncompensated care.
The health care tax credits have proven essential for maintaining coverage among Florida's workforce — small business owners and restaurant workers whose jobs provide paychecks but not health benefits.
We urge Florida’s congressional delegation to prioritize this extension in September funding negotiations. Florida families shouldn’t have to choose between health care and housing, and communities shouldn’t watch hospitals struggle as 1.5 million residents become uninsured.
Congress has the power to prevent this crisis by acting before Sept. 30.
Bryan Walrath
President & CEO
Ascension St. Vincent's Clay County
Scott Kashman
President & CEO
Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside
Kevin Rinks
President & CEO
Ascension St. Vincent's Southside
Cory Darling
President & CEO
Ascension St. Vincent's St. Johns County
