08.11.25

At SW WA Daycare, Cantwell & Local Stakeholders Warn That Skyrocketing Health Insurance Costs Will Hurt Family Budgets

Cantwell calls on Senate leadership to reverse 50-50 vote driving premiums up

CAMAS, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Southwest Washington small business owners and health insurance experts to sound the alarm about how health insurance premiums will soon skyrocket due to the budget bill passed by the GOP last month. She called on Senate leadership to take immediate action to reverse this trend upon reconvening next month.

“This is a real threat to our health care affordability, it's a threat to individuals, small businesses, the workers that they employ, and … to the quality of health insurance,” said Sen. Cantwell. “Today, I am urging Congress to take action to save the Affordable Care Act tax credits and their expansion, and make sure that we do that before the end of this year.”

“I face the difficult decision of how much of the rate hikes -- currently at 24% -- do I take on and absorb?” said Dana Christiansen, Owner of Tree Hill Learning Center. “How much do I pass on to the employee? How much do I pass on to the families in the form of tuition increases? And most painfully, what benefits I might have to cut.”

The GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which President Donald Trump signed into law last month, passed the Senate only because of a tiebreaking vote by Vice President JD Vance. The bill included multiple provisions expected to drive up health care costs, including deep cuts to Medicaid, new hurdles to accessing coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and failure to extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, which help subsidize health insurance for more than 214,000 Washingtonians and will expire at the end of 2025. President Trump’s tariffs will increase costs as well.

“In a time when everything else is even more expensive, groceries and household goods, the last thing we want to do is make health care more expensive too,” said Sen. Cantwell. “So that is why I am sending a letter today to Chairman Crapo and Wyden, the two ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee, asking them to have hearings and a markup on legislation that would help preserve the affordable health care tax credits and save our affordability in this system. I'm urging them to do this as soon as we return in September, and to find ways to make health insurance more affordable for American families.”

In Washington state, the average spike in premium costs will be 21.2% for small business owners and folks who purchase health insurance on the open market. They’ll see that increase within the next couple months -- open enrollment for 2026 in the individual marketplace begins on November 1, 2025, and carriers will send out renewal notices in October.

Economists expect the increase will squeeze business owners – already facing uncertain futures thanks to President Trump’s chaotic tariff wars – and force them to find ways to tighten their belts. Many individuals who purchase their own plans on the open market are likely to find themselves priced out of the market altogether, or forced to make deep cuts in their own household budgets to compensate. As a new analysis from Kaiser Family Foundation, a leading national nonprofit focused on health care policy, notes, insurers anticipate that as some healthier members leave their plans when their subsidies decrease, that will “create[e] an enrollee base that is less healthy and more expensive on average.”

People without health insurance tend to wait until their health problem is an emergency before seeking care in local hospitals. This leads to more crowded emergency rooms for everyone. And hospitals must factor the uncompensated cost of additional uninsured patients into already strained finances.

Also speaking at today’s event were Stacey Johnson, Founder and President of Your Insurance Gal Agency, and Marnie Farness, Director of Programs at Workforce Southwest Washington

Video of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks is available HERE, photos are HERE, and a transcript HERE. Video of the other participants’ remarks is available HERE, and a full transcript is available HERE.

 

 

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