Name: Some Kansas patients facing higher health care costs
Uploaded: 2026-01-06T16:34:48.009Z
Duration: 2 min 5 s
Description: Some Kansas patients are facing higher health care costs as enhanced ACA subsidies expire.

Some Kansas patients are facing higher health care costs as enhanced ACA subsidies expire.

Kansas

Some Kansas patients are experiencing increased health care costs following the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies that previously helped lower their insurance premiums through the ACA marketplace. While standard subsidies remain, individuals such as cancer survivor Dawn Wheeler and self-employed Sydney Maha report significant premium hikes, leading to financial strain and uncertainty about future coverage.

Wheeler's monthly premium rose from $69 to $272, while Maha's increased from $16 to $91. Both patients highlight the ongoing challenges of affording necessary medical care and express concerns about the broader affordability of the American health care system.

Some Kansas patients facing higher health care costs

Enhanced subsidies, a form of federal relief that help people pay for insurance through the ACA marketplace, have run out. Now, there's still some relief in place through those standard subsidies, but I stayed in touch with people who rely on subsidies for their health care, and they told me that they'll still have to adjust their budgets. She's a cancer survivor. Dawn Wheeler has been through a lot. May will start my ninth year of chemo. Our self-employment went way, way, way down. My husband had to find a job. We had to use our finances to stay in our house. What savings we had went to that. The expiration of enhanced ACA subsidies leaves her with another financial hurdle for the new year. That adds up to thousands more dollars a year, and a lot of that we have to come up with, you know, like right away. Her $69 a month premium is now $272 a month. She says she's hoping to work out a payment plan with her specialists to afford her care. Is it fair to say this has caused a lot of financial stress for you? It's still unaffordable as a person trying to just still work. Sydney Maha is also self-employed, and she relies on prescriptions, doctors, and treatments for her chronic migraines and a connective tissue disorder. And I have no idea if I'm going to have insurance or affordable insurance by next year. I don't even know if I'm going to have that next month, you know. Without the enhanced subsidies, her $16 a month premium is now $91 a month. Sydney says the need for subsidies demonstrates a big picture problem. We just haven't built an affordable care system in America. I don't know how we're going to do it. And with all that Dawn Wheeler has been through, we're just trying to move forward. Even she doesn't know what the path ahead will look like. In Kansas City, Elise Schoenig, KSHB 41 News. Elise covers consumer stories for us, specifically healthcare-related stories. So if you have a story, idea for her, or a question maybe you're struggling with right now, you can scan that QR code on your screen or contact her directly. Email her at elise.schoenig at kshb.com.

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