MADISON, Wis. — As the GOP refuses to continue health care funding and has shut the government down over it, experts are ringing the alarm bells that Wisconsinites across the state are going to see their health care costs go up or lose coverage entirely. The GOP’s plan to skyrocket health care premiums for millions of Americans has been wholeheartedly embraced by Wisconsin’s entire Republican federal delegation, including Tom Tiffany, Derrick Van Orden, and Bryan Steil.
Read the key points about the impact of the GOP shutdown below:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Health coverage for thousands of Wisconsinites hangs in the balance as government shutdown continues, experts say
Anna Kleiber | 10/10/25
- Tens of thousands of Wisconsinites could lose their health coverage if subsidies that help people buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act expire, experts predict.
- At the center of the government shutdown fight is a dispute over whether the subsidies should be extended. Without them, insurance premiums will spike and many individuals and families will be priced out of the market. Middle-income enrollees are expected to be heavily impacted by significantly higher costs, and those with an income above 400% of federal poverty guidelines, and would lose subsidies entirely.
- Democrats are demanding Republicans include a renewal of the tax breaks that help pay for health coverage as part of any funding extension to reopen the government. The current subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year. So far, Republicans have not budged on the demands, saying the extension does not belong on a spending measure, and some have argued that Congress should let the subsidies expire.
- House Republicans approved a temporary funding patch through Nov. 21 to continue at the same rate as before the shutdown. Senate Democrats have blocked approval of that bill in an effort to prevent Medicaid cuts that were part of President Donald Trump’s major tax-cut legislation and the expiration of federal subsidies for participants.
- Wisconsin saw record enrollment in ACA Marketplace for the 2025 coverage year, with 313,579 Wisconsinites selecting Marketplace plans. This represented an 18% increase from the previous enrollment period and is attributed to factors including enhanced federal subsidies from the American Rescue Plan and increased outreach efforts to raise awareness about coverage options.
- Advocates and state officials have cited the increased enrollment as a sign of the ACA’s success in expanding coverage but have expressed concerns about how the potential loss of enhanced subsidies in 2026 could impact Wisconsinites.
- “One of the benefits of the ACA Marketplace is that it’s provided good, strong health care coverage that allows people to get the care they need for themselves and their families. And if they lose that coverage and have to go on lesser coverage with higher deductibles and higher out-of-pocket costs and less benefits, that’s very concerning for access to care for people across the state,” Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Nathan Houdek told WPR.
- A core provision of the ACA, the tax credits in question help Americans who don’t get coverage through work, Medicare or Medicaid afford health insurance. The subsidies adjust with people’s incomes.
- Without an extension, the extra help will expire at the end of 2025 and insurance premiums likely double, according to an analysis published in September by KFF, a health research group. The enrollment period begins Nov. 1 and without an assurance of subsidies, some participants might not sign up.
- The loss of these subsidies would hit a lot of Republican-controlled states hard, where Medicaid health plan has not been expanded at the state level.
- The GOP funding patch would continue Medicaid spending cuts approved as part of Trump’s major tax-cut legislation. An estimated 7.5 million will lose coverage under the program for lower-income families and the disabled over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
- Republicans say the Democrats’ proposal would open up subsidized ACA coverage to people who are in the country illegally, but undocumented immigrants are largely ineligible for federal health benefits and don’t qualify for comprehensive Medicaid coverage, Medicare or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. They also can’t purchase federally subsidized health plans on exchanges backed by the Affordable Care Act.
- Undocumented immigrants have never been eligible for ACA subsidies and coverage. That would not change under the Democrats’ proposal.
