Health insurance premiums for Affordable Care Act plans in Florida are increasing by an average of 10.4 percent, according to the state's Office of Insurance Regulation, just as open enrollment begins and Election Day approaches.
The surge follows the expiration of federal subsidies last year, a loss that has hit working-class and lower-income Floridians hard. Healthcare costs have become a central issue in the competitive 22nd Congressional District, which spans from the Gulf Coast to the Palm Beach suburbs and includes wealthy communities alongside working-class neighborhoods.
Brittany Garcia, a 23-year-old registered nurse, has no health insurance. As a contractor, she tried to buy coverage on the healthcare marketplace but found nothing available at a price she could afford. "It's scary," Garcia said. "I would hope that there is some reform soon because I literally have no access to healthcare."
Garcia, who previously voted Republican, said her frustration with healthcare access is reshaping her voting decisions. "This time, I'm just voting with my convictions."
Another voter, who requested anonymity citing harassment faced by political activists in Collier County, northeast of Naples, has been without insurance since January. Her insurance agent told her premiums would double or triple after subsidies were removed. She has paid out of pocket for emergency hospital visits and pneumonia treatment.
She plans to vote for Democratic nominee Pia Dandiya, citing Dandiya's effort to expand the Affordable Care Act. Collier County includes immigrants from Haiti, Mexico and Guatemala.
