Wisconsin mother: “We’re just going to have to be making very difficult decisions as to what we can afford”

Hardworking Western Wisconsin families are facing skyrocketing health care premiums thanks to Derrick Van Orden’s failure to extend the ACA tax credits, in one case even seeing their premiums jump from $800 a month to $1,800 a month – forcing Phyllis Jaworski and her husband them to make tough decisions for their family. 

Spectrum News: “Jaworski said she and her husband have cut back on subscriptions and look for sales at the grocery store. They’ve also weighed if they can afford extracurricular activities for their sons. They might seek scholarships, or ask their oldest son who’s working to contribute. He’s also getting his driver’s license soon, so their car insurance will go up.”
And with the extra $1,000 price tag, “[Jaworski’s] family may no longer be able to afford health insurance through the ACA if the cost continues to rise.”

REMINDER: Van Orden has consistently attacked Wisconsinites’ health care: backing a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, voting to block a bill that would extend ACA tax credits for three years, and putting over 313,000 Wisconsinites at risk of losing health care coverage and becoming uninsured. 

DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Western Wisconsin families are seeing the cost of everything – from health care, to gas and groceries, to electricity bills – continue to rise and Derrick Van Orden is to blame. Van Orden failed to extend the health care tax credits that countless Wisconsin families rely on, and voters know he’s done nothing to get their costs down.”

Spectrum News:‘A very dark cloud’: Wisconsin mom sees ACA premium more than double

  • Phyllis Jaworski lives in Western Wisconsin, near the Minnesota border, with her husband and two teenage boys. They obtain their health insurance through an online marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
     
  • Last year, she paid $800 a month for coverage. That ballooned to $1800 this year, after Republicans in Congress allowed enhanced subsidies to expire for people buying ACA coverage.
     
  • “It is kind of an emotional piece, being like, ‘Wow, we just really can’t afford what we’ve always thought we could,’” she said.
     
  • Jaworski said she and her husband have cut back on subscriptions and look for sales at the grocery store. They’ve also weighed if they can afford extracurricular activities for their sons. They might seek scholarships, or ask their oldest son who’s working to contribute.
     
  • “This should be a time of excitement and stuff, and for us, it’s actually kind of dread, right?” she said. “An additional $1,000 a month for the health insurance…It’s hard.” 
     
  • Monday marked 16 years since then-President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law.
     
  • “To see now the deterioration of this program, as well as many others, it is a very dark—a very dark—cloud,” Jaworski said. “We felt very fortunate that it was an option when I left my job and lost our insurance… And it was just nice to think—to feel like—there was something that we could fall back on and rely on if we needed it.”
     
  • “In the next couple of months, we’re just going to have to be making very difficult decisions as to what we can afford,” [Jaworski said.]
     
  • Next year, Jaworski said her family may no longer be able to afford health insurance through the ACA if the cost continues to rise.