WUNC: “All of that is taking place at the same time that the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits are causing significant anxiety among people seeking coverage.”

New reporting from WUNC sheds light on the devastating impact of Michael Whatley-backed health care policies that are driving up costs and making open enrollment “way more complicated” for North Carolinians trying to access health care.

DC insider Michael Whatley has cheered on DC Republicans as they refuse to extend the ACA tax credits that are sending North Carolinians’ health care costs skyrocketing, with monthly premiums to double or more for nearly a million North Carolinians. As the GOP’s toxic budget bill complicates open enrollment, Whatley called it a “huge win” and said he would have voted for it “in a heartbeat.”

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WUNC: NC’s Affordable Care Act navigators try to help clients find insurance despite funding cuts

Adam Wagner | January 14, 2025

• This year, though, there are a litany of changes to the coverage, including to Biden-era enhanced premium tax credits that brought the cost of healthcare plans down for millions of enrollees. Navigators, who offer free assistance to help people traverse those changes, are facing challenges of their own amid significant federal funding cuts.

• Rasmussen is one of 177 navigators working in North Carolina this year, down from 235 last year. That decline is almost entirely in paid, full-time navigators at the Navigator Consortium or its six partner agencies, a consequence of a 90% cut to federal funding for navigators the Trump Administration enacted in early 2025.

• For North Carolina, that meant funding dropped from $7.5 million to $750,000. 

• All of that is taking place at the same time that the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits are causing significant anxiety among people seeking coverage.

• The Navigator Consortium has seen a 22% increase in calls during this year’s open enrollment period compared to last year, Smith said.

• “We were doing like an hour appointment so we can see more people. But it’s been stressful, it’s been frustrating because a lot of people are getting mad because the prices are not what they expected,” Marles said.

• This year’s open enrollment has been significantly more complicated, Barnes said in an interview, in part because she and other navigators are needing to keep up with changes to the Affordable Care Act, largely enacted in last year’s House Resolution 1.

• “A lot of these appointments that I’ve had are way more complicated… if people qualify, how they qualify, is it going to get sent to Medicaid, and then obviously questions about affordability and things like that,” Barnes said.

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