The ongoing government shutdown has reopened the debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Democrats say they won't vote to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate an extension of subsidies, which were first put in place in 2021 and extended a year later.

The tax credits are slated to expire at the end of the year. Without them, health insurance premiums for many low- and middle-income people across Georgia and around the country could skyrocket.

Georgians brace themselves for higher premiums

Sixty-two-year-old Michele Phillips cares for her aging mother in Kennesaw.

"My husband is 65, so he has Medicare. My mother is 83. She has Medicare. I'm 62, so I have no insurance," Phillips said.

She gets health insurance through the ACA and pays $458 a month for a high-deductible plan.

"My deductible is $4,150. My out-of-pocket is $8,150," she said.

Phillips said if she doesn't have the ACA subsidy on Jan. 1, her insurance will leap to more than $1,200 each month.

The expanded subsidies pushed ACA enrollment to new levels and drove the rate of uninsured people to a historic low. In 2025, a record 24 million people signed up for insurance coverage, in large part because the subsidies made the plans more affordable.

Phillips said she's worried about what happens if Congress doesn't extend them before the end of the year.

"What is the plan is I have no health insurance. I am just going to wing it. I'm just going to say, by the grace of God, please, please watch over me," she said.

The Kennesaw woman emailed Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as well as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

"Sen. Ossoff was the one that contacted me back, and Sen. Warnock, too," she said.

Their offices told her they are actively working on the issue. 

If the tax credits expire, annual out-of-pocket premiums are estimated to increase by 114% — an average of $1,016 — next year, according to an analysis by health care nonprofit KFF.

As of Day 23, the Senate has failed to advance the House-passed funding bill. The legislative body has now adjourned until Monday, stretching the shutdown into the next week.