| As Republicans’ health care crisis worsens, Central Valley families are set to see their health insurance premiums skyrocket next year, with the average Californian expected to pay 97% more without enhanced tax credits.
While David Valadao sits back and lets Affordable Care Act tax credits expire next month, over 1.5 million Californians are being forced to pay the price.
Central Valley residents and medical professionals are the ones feeling the pain. A barber in Fresno explained that his insurance will more than triple: “It was $44 per month before, and now I’m going to pay $140…it will be tight.”
The head of Covered California said she’s already heard from retirees, young adults, and small business owners “uncertain if they can continue to make it on their own with the higher cost of coverage.”
DCCC Spokesperson Anna Elsasser:
“Yet another example of David Valadao putting Central Valley families last. Rather than making life more affordable, Republicans are committed to draining the pockets of working families.”
Read more:
The Merced Focus: Covered California enrollment’s open. But without a tax credits extension, will thousands in the Valley be unable to pay?
- Fresno barber Juan Gonzalez expects to pay more than three times more for health insurance coverage through Covered California than he did in 2025 because federal tax credits that help subsidize the cost of his monthly premiums are set to expire at the end of December.
- “It was $44 per month before, and now I’m going to pay $140,” Gonzalez [said]…at a Clinica Sierra Vista health clinic in south Fresno.
- “It will depend on the income I earn every month…it will be tight.”
- Gonzalez is among about almost 185,000 lower-income San Joaquin Valley residents – and nearly 2 million statewide – who, with the aid of the tax credits, purchase health insurance through Covered California.
- “I have already heard from retirees facing the highest premium increases in the state, from parents who are juggling medical bills and other bills in their life, from young adults considering going without insurance, and small business owners uncertain if they can continue to make it on their own with the higher cost of coverage” [Covered California Executive Director Jessica] Altman said.
- Democrats in Congress have been pushing throughout 2025 for the credits to be extended, but President Donald Trump and Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives have resisted those efforts. The struggle over the credits was one of the key points of contention in a shutdown of the federal government that lasted for more than 40 days.
- In San Joaquin Valley counties, from Stockton in the north to Bakersfield in the south, about 202,000 people were enrolled as members of Covered California as of July. Of those, about 91% have their costs at least partially subsidized by tax credits.
- “My biggest concern is that patients are not going to be able to afford Covered California. They’re not going to be able to qualify for Medi-Cal, so they’re going to be in limbo in between those options. They’re not going to get the coverage that they need, and they’re going to delay their care.” – Dr. Olga Meave, CEO of Clinica Sierra Vista health clinics in Fresno and Kern counties
- “It makes no sense to increase the cost of access to care, because we – I mean taxpayers – are going to pay a lot more,” she added. “What could have cost $100 is going to cost thousands of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. One night in the hospital is probably more than the whole premium for a year.”
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