‘It couldn’t come at a worse time’: Vermont grapples with the potential end of Covid-era federal subsidies for marketplace health insurance

['Olivia Gieger', 'More Olivia Gieger', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] VTDigger 2025-09-22 00:00:00

Almost 30,000 Vermonters are covered by health insurance purchased on the individual market of the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace. Welch and his fellow Senate Democrats have positioned a permanent extension of expiring federal tax credits for health insurance as a central bargaining chip in these negotiations. In Vermont, that’s Vermont Health Connect, where Blue Cross Blue Shield and MVP sell plans. Now, these enhanced tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2025. When people forgo health insurance entirely, it’s usually younger, healthier people, who make the financial gamble that being uninsured represents.