Officials Estimate 100,000 In Danger Of Losing Healthcare Coverage As ACA Changes Loom

by Donald Eng

HARTFORD, CT — The estimated 100,000 customers who are projected to lose their healthcare coverage as a result of new requirements mandated by HR1 next year are families, neighbors and community members, Charter Oak Health Center President and CEO Vernette Townsend said Monday.

Townsend, joined by senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves and healthcare advocates, said Charter Oak has been a healthcare lifeline to Hartford’s most vulnerable residents.

“Every day we witness firsthand the importance of Medicaid in providing access to quality healthcare to individuals and families who need it the most,” she said.

The Congressional briefing on coming changes to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid came just weeks before the 2026 federal election. The timing was no coincidence, Murphy said since several aspects of the bill were timed to go into effect after the midterms.

“But these cuts are coming and there is devastation on the way,” he said.

Murphy described the changes to the ACA as a fundamental immorality.

“It wasn’t that we couldn’t afford to provide healthcare for families … he (President Donald Trump) did it in order to provide a massive, trillion-dollar tax cut for his billionaire friends,” Murphy said. “This was a direct transfer of money. We … cut healthcare for poor people and millions of families, and we’re going to use that money to give a trillion dollars in tax cuts to the richest Americans.”

Should Democrats regain power in Congress, Murphy said restoring the cuts would be a top priority, although the path to doing so is unclear with Trump still in the White House, he said.

Blumenthal called the reductions, combined with inflation and double-digit premium increases as a crushing perfect storm.

“Costs in healthcare are crushing to Americans who have to pay more for groceries and gasoline,” he said. “We are seeing the everyday real effects if it.”

Sean King, general counsel for the Office of the Healthcare Advocate, said consumers should make sure they are working with a  reputable broker when shopping for ACA marketplace plans. Residents should review documents and policies carefully and ask questions about anything that is unclear, he said.

Barton Reeves said the state was projecting that about 108,000 of the 316,000 people on Husky were at risk of losing their coverage due to the changes in eligibility or due to affordability. Her department would do everything possible to assist those people in remaining covered, she said.

“Everyone should have access,” she said. “And you shouldn’t have to jump through hoops.”