BOISE — Dozens gathered on the corner of 9th Street and Jefferson on Tuesday afternoon, swaddled in winter clothing and waving signs in protest of the significant increase in marketplace health care premiums coming next year.

In a press conference held outside Sen. Jim Risch’s downtown Boise office, located at 350 N. 9th St., Ada County Democrats called out Idaho’s federal elected officials, all of whom are Republican, in what they described as a failure to protect affordable health care for Idaho’s families.

The allegation comes shortly after Idaho’s open enrollment period closed on Monday, putting the state among the first to see the cost of Affordable Care Act health insurance plans increase. As it stands, over 100,000 Idahoans are recipients of the enhanced tax credit that are set to expire this month and, in turn, raise insurance premiums, the Ada County Democrats said in a news release.

The enhanced premium tax credits were initially enacted as a temporary measure to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

They were first passed through the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extended under the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, the latter of which set a Dec. 31, 2025 expiration date for the enhanced credit.

If the enhanced subsidies expire, the share of monthly insurance premiums paid for by individuals and families will increase for an estimated 22 million who do not have employer-sponsored insurance, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Ada County Democrats Chair Jared DeLoof described Congress’ rejection of legislation that would extend these tax credits as “actively making life harder for working Americans.”

“People are already paying more for groceries, rent, child care and utilities, families are cutting back everywhere they can, but there is one place where they should not be forced to cut back, and that is their health care,” DeLoof said. “And yet, that’s exactly what’s about to happen here in Idaho.”

While the enhanced premium tax credit has been active, marketplace insurance enrollment has increased from 11 million to over 24 million people, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a health policy research non-profit, which also found the expiration of the subsidies means that average ACA premium payments would “more than double on average.”

“We know that tens of thousands of Idahoans are going to lose their coverage on the exchange because of this,” House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said, “and many others will become uninsured because many people are going to drop out of coverage.”

She added that further impacts will be felt from individuals and families downgrading to plans with lower premiums and higher deductibles, putting them at risk of “financial ruin” in the event of a health issue.

Laura Tirrell, a retired doctor with past experience at Terry Reilly and Saint Alphonsus, spoke in front of the crowd to her 35-year-old daughter’s insurance situation as an indication of the degree of cost increase that some will face. Her daughter, who works as a farmer, is poised to have her premium increase from $200 a month to $1,000 a month unless the enhanced subsidies are extended.

“She’s telling me that they’re just making it on five acres — raising lambs, growing vegetables for us — and they’re considering relying on their current good health and not getting insurance for 2026,” Tirrell said. “They know other farmers struggling with the same tough choice.”

In written testimony submitted on the coming cost increases, Michelle Freshwater, a Meridian-based physician, stated she canceled her family coverage for 2026 as the family’s bronze plan premium was slated to more than double to $1,800 per month.

Sidney Buffington, an attendee at the protest, said everyone should be able to have affordable, accessible and quality health care available to them. While she said she was not opposed to ideas forwarded by Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo that would have provided $1,000 in a health savings account for people on high-deductible marketplace plans, she said it would need to happen in conjunction with enhanced subsidy extensions.

“I was an ER nurse for many years, and I remember my first patient who died because she didn’t have health care,” Buffington said. “She avoided going to the doctor because she didn’t have health insurance — this is before Obamacare — and she died of pneumonia because she waited.”