Cantwell, Stakeholders Convene in Spokane to Ring the Alarm About Skyrocketing Health Insurance Costs
“ residents, especially Eastern Washington residents, are going to be hit hard,” says Cantwell
SPOKANE, WA – Today, Sen. Maria Cantwell, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Spokane-area small business owners and health insurance experts for a press conference to alert Washingtonians about spiking health insurance premiums due to a host of Administration supported policies including the upcoming expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits, Medicaid coverage cuts under Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill,” and Trump tariffs on pharmaceuticals and vital medical supplies.
“Unfortunately, we've seen a series of policies recently that have made health insurance coverage harder for many Washingtonians, and as these deadlines approach the cost of insurance is definitely going to go up, and we need to fight back,” said Senator Cantwell. “These actions have destabilized the health insurance market, and that is why we're seeing these increases go up for everyone. Washingtonians who remain on the exchange can see as much as a 65% increase in premiums, and even higher here for Eastern Washington.”
Health insurance premiums are expected to skyrocket across the country next year, in part because of higher charges from hospitals caused by increased uncompensated care. In Washington state, the average spike in premium costs is 21.2% for small business owners and folks who purchase health insurance on the open market. And according to the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, the expiration of the enhancement will cause 80,000 Washingtonians to forgo marketplace coverage next year, while those currently receiving enhanced premium tax credits will see a 65% increase in premiums. The carriers predict that those who lose coverage will mostly become uninsured and increase the cost of uncompensated care at emergency departments. They also cite the rising cost of delivering care and tariffs as other reasons for the large premium increase.
“The further my costs go up, the further my tuition goes up,” said Nicole Sohn, founder and owner of a Spokane childcare center. “Most communities in Washington state are in a childcare desert. There are more children than we have slots for and so as we're looking at this balancing act of costs, we have to realize that when families can't go to work, it's not just me that's impacted. It's every employer in every county in our state. It's manufacturing, it's retail, it's everywhere.”
The GOP’s budget bill included deep cuts to Medicaid and set up new hurdles to accessing coverage under the Affordable Care Act. It also failed to extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, which help subsidize health insurance for more than 214,000 Washingtonians. The enhancement is set to expire at the end of 2025. Open enrollment for 2026 in the individual marketplace begins on November 1, 2025, and carriers will send out renewal notices in October.
“Currently, three out of four marketplace customers benefit from the enhanced premium tax credits,” said Gina Wolf, a Spokane area small business owner, doctor, and appointee to the Washington Health Benefit Exchange Board. “That's more than 200,000 Washingtonians who get this extra help … The people in our state that benefit the most from the enhanced premium tax credits are older and rural residents, people who work for small businesses, such as mine, freelance workers and thousands of middle class families.”
“The enhanced premium tax credits are scheduled to end on January 1, 2026,” said Dr. Bidisha Mandal, Professor and Associate Director of School of Economic Sciences at Washington State University. “Premiums will increase for many, especially those who lose eligibility altogether. So, for example, a 50-year-old individual who receives credits in 2025 but loses them completely in 2026 could see their premiums rise by 34% in Washington, although the range is anywhere between 16% to 75%.”
Dr. Mandal explained that the expiration of the tax credits will cause the rate of uninsured Washingtonians to rise – creating higher costs for everyone and worse health outcomes for the uninsured. As a new analysis from KFF, a leading national nonprofit focused on health care policy, notes, insurers anticipate that some healthier members will leave their plans when their subsidies decrease, “creating 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 – finances which are especially strained at rural hospitals.
During debate over the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Cantwell joined local leaders from red states for a virtual press conference to warn that cutting 16 million Americans off of health insurance will put a dramatic strain on the budgets and health of their communities. Cantwell also shared analysis from the Joint Economic Committee which estimates that more than 306,000 Washingtonians will lose coverage. A quarter of those losses would come in just two of the state’s ten congressional districts – Washington’s Fourth Congressional District, where it is estimated that nearly 41,000 people will lose coverage, and the Fifth Congressional District, where more than 36,000 people will lose coverage, the highest losses of the state’s congressional districts.
Before final Senate passage of the bill, Cantwell delivered a speech on the Senate floor warning of the impact of the cuts.
Video of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks at today’s event are available HERE and a transcript HERE.
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