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Health Connector: hundreds of thousands in Mass. could face steep premium hikes without extended tax credits
Summary
Massachusetts Health Connector and community navigators described urgent hardship for members during open enrollment, warning that 330,000 Connector members could face large premium increases when enhanced federal premium tax credits expire at year-end; the Connector urged Congress to extend the credits and offered navigation help.
The Massachusetts Health Connector warned that hundreds of thousands of state residents will face sharply higher insurance premiums unless Congress and the president extend enhanced premium tax credits set to expire at the end of the calendar year.
"Open enrollment began on November 1, so we're just over a week in," Audrey Gasteyer, executive director of the Health Connector, said. She told reporters the Connector had started sending notices about 2026 eligibility and premiums and that many members were "reeling" and seeking help from the Connector—s customer service and navigators.
Governor Healy said the credits— expiration could affect roughly 330,000 Massachusetts residents and produce increases "as much as $25,000 a year" for some households beginning Jan. 1 if federal action is not taken. She gave two examples: a 62-year-old Peabody couple now paying about $900 per month who could face nearly $2,100 per month next year, and a single mother in Worcester who could see a monthly premium rise from $11 to $53.
Tina Allu, executive director of the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee and a Connector navigator, described clients who "were panicking" after receiving initial notices and said some people are losing connector care and being forced into plans with higher deductibles and different provider networks. "The idea of having to change from the doctors that she trusts left her in tears," Allu said of a case she has worked on.
Gasteyer said the Connector has a contingency playbook and is encouraging members to update accounts, shop for plans, and use in-person navigators available at 50 locations across the state in more than 30 languages. She urged Congress to act, saying "if Congress takes action, the health connector is ready to move mountains to deliver to members the premium support they deserve as nimbly and rapidly as possible."
Healy and Connector leaders emphasized that while navigators can help some members find lower-cost options, no state can fully substitute for lost federal subsidies; Healy repeated a call for Congress and the president to extend the enhanced premium tax credits for at least another year so members do not face precipitous coverage or cost changes during open enrollment.
