‘I don’t know what I am going to do’; 55,000 Mainers grapple with rising health care costs if ACA tax credits end

PORTLAND, Maine — Nearly 55,000 Mainers rely on federal tax credits to help cover the cost of their monthly health care premiums through the Affordable Care Act, according to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services .

Those credits, enhanced under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, are set to expire on December 31 unless Congress votes to extend them — leaving many Mainers anxious about how they’ll afford coverage in the new year.

“That includes us,” John Costin said. Costin, a small business owner in Sanford, said the tax credits make a huge difference for him and his wife.

Without them, he estimates their premium and out-of-pocket costs will increase by $25,000 next year. “That’s not doable on our income.”

Costin and a half-dozen others gathered outside Maine Republica