Massachusetts Pledges $250M to Offset Health Insurance Hikes as Federal Subsidies Expire

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced on Thursday, Jan. 8, that her administration will commit $250 million from a trust fund to help offset rising health insurance premiums for about 270,000 residents as federal subsidies expired at the end of 2025.

According to Healey's office, a 45-year-old couple with two children earning $75,000 in Fall River previously paid $166 per month for the lowest-cost coverage. Without state action, their health insurance premiums would have more than doubled. Thanks to support from the trust fund, however, they will pay only $206 per month.

Healey also used the news conference to call attention to an effort in Congress to revive the federal subsidies. On Jan. 8, the U.S. House, with support from 17 Republican defectors facing competitive re-election races, passed a bill to extend the subsidies for another three years. A small group of senators is also considering proposing their own version of the subsidies extension.

According to a Boston Globe report, Healey didn't previously announce the usage of trust funds because she had hoped Congress would act before 2025 ended.

“We need to see people in Congress step up and take action and fight the president on this and get him to focus on the domestic agenda and how to make life more affordable for people,” Healey stated.

By last year, 337,000 people in Massachusetts had received subsidized insurance through ConnectorCare. According to the Boston Globe, state officials have estimated that approximately 300,000 people could become uninsured statewide over the next decade.

The introduction of funds from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund brings the state's total commitment to the insurance marketplace to $600 million. According to Healey, it is the most extensive support from any U.S. state.

However, Massachusetts can do only so much to counter the impacts of the expired federal subsidies. "Because Congress didn't extend them, people between 400 and 500% of the federal poverty level simply are ineligible to sign up for subsidized policies through the ACA marketplace," noted Globe journalist Jason Laughlin. "There are roughly 27,000 people statewide who cannot benefit from the state's effort to compensate for the lost federal money, and those people are among those facing the biggest new insurance expenses."