KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson said he won't call a vote to extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, all but ensuring they will expire at the end of the month.
For millions of Americans, that means their insurance premiums will go up next year.
"Kind of expected it to go that way," said Sydney Macha, a Kansas resident receiving ACA subsidies. "So I've kind of mourned my health care over the past year."
Macha has hemiplegic migraines, which cause half-body paralysis, and heavily relies on the subsidies to afford her health insurance.
"So it's physically impossible for me to even get up because I lose my ability to speak, I lose my sight," Macha said. "Swallowing is difficult because it numbs half of my esophagus."
Her costs add up quickly. She's self-employed and relies on prescriptions, doctors and treatments for her chronic migraines and connective tissue disorder.
"If my subsidies are taken away from me, then I will lose my insurance completely because ... it's just not going to happen for me to afford," Macha said.
Without the subsidies, her $16/month premium would be $402/month. She'll have to pay thousands for prescriptions, and she'll lose access to some doctors.
Dawn Wheeler is another subsidy recipient in a similar situation. Her $70/month premium will go to $2,300/month when these subsidies end.
"It will be unaffordable to us," Wheeler said. "It's panic time for a lot of people. I honestly don't know what we're going to do."
Macha was prepared for this possibility. She worries that in the weeks ahead, patients will only be able to count on increasing impacts.
"You're going to have more health issues that could have been caught earlier through preventative care," Macha said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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