ICYMI: U.S. Senators Amplify Floridians’ Health Care Stories as Insurance Premiums Skyrocket

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

November 7, 2025

CONTACT

Jossie Barroso

Communications Director,

Florida Voices for Health

jossie@healthyfla.org 

ICYMI: U.S. Senators Amplify Floridians’ Health Care Stories as Insurance Premiums Skyrocket    

Miami, Fla. – Earlier this week, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) traveled to Miami, Florida to host a roundtable with Floridians struggling with the rising health care costs and massive coverage cuts.

According to estimates, nearly a third of the 4.7 million Floridians enrolled in ACA plans could lose coverage if Congress fails to extend the enhanced premium tax credits. With the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits a sticking point in the government shutdown, Floridians are facing sticker shock with their insurance plans as they decide whether to renew or risk living uninsured. South Florida residents are seeing their ACA insurance premiums double and triple.  

The Senators were joined by several South Florida residents, including Francoise Cham, a single mom close to retiring, whose current insurance plan for her and her daughter increased by 250%, Kara Farley, a Boynton Beach mom whose health care covers her and her family – who is battling cancer while her husband manages complications with diabetes, and Seth Grossman, a psychologist and small business owner living in Parkland, who has an ACA plan to cover his family.

Politico: Senate Democrats head to Trump's 'backyard' to press him on Obamacare

By: Kimberly Leonard, November 3, 2025 

MIAMI — A trio of Senate Democrats descended on South Florida on Monday to highlight how badly high health insurance prices will hit area residents as the government shutdown drags on.

The soaring insurance costs in the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces are among the issues at the center of the shutdown, which is set to become the longest in U.S. history if it continues into Tuesday night. Florida has 4.7 million people who use marketplace, or “Obamacare,” plans for coverage, more than any other state. But the subsidies that made them affordable to many customers are set to expire at the end of the year.

“We’re here, particularly in Miami-Dade, because you’re ground zero for absorbing the pain from the Republican cuts,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said before a crowd gathered at a local health care union headquarters. “You are the ones who will lose more people off health care altogether and more people who will see their premiums go up than any place else in the country.”

Warren, along with Sens. Tina Smith of Minnesota and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, criticized President Donald Trump and Republicans for refusing to extend the more generous subsidies originally created as part of a 2021 pandemic relief bill.

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“Donald Trump could reopen the government tomorrow if he just decided to fix this problem,” Murphy said. He added that though Democrats “want to get the government open,” they won’t vote for what he called “an immoral budget that throws millions of people off their health care.”

Nov. 1 marked the first day of open enrollment, the time of year when people can sign up for health insurance partially financed by the federal government. Many are now facing sticker shock as the federal government chips in far less than it used to. On Monday, three Floridians shared their stories at the senators’ event, organized by Florida Voices for Health.

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Among them was Miamian Francoise Cham, who said her premiums are set to rise 250 percent. She explained that she first began relying on the marketplace because she couldn’t work a typical 9-to-5 job; at the time she was taking care of her late parents, her late brother who was paralyzed and her daughter, who’s now in college.

Boynton Beach resident Kara Farley said she previously went into medical debt because she wasn’t able to afford health insurance until the more generous subsidies kicked in during 2021. Her husband also has Type 1 diabetes and suffers from seizures, she said, and often had diabetic episodes that sent him to the emergency room when the couple wasn’t fully covered.

Farley, who is now undergoing treatment for a malignant melanoma, said her insurance premiums are now expected to double. “I honestly don’t know where we’ll find that extra money in our budget, and I don’t want to be back in a position where we’re trying to decide if I can get treatment or my husband does,” she said.

Seth Grossman, a clinical psychologist who lives in Parkland, said he was already paying $3,000 a month toward coverage this year to insure his family, including a son with autism. But next year his premiums will jump to $4,500.

Without a fix to the marketplaces, some Obamacare customers are likely to pay higher prices while others are expected to forgo coverage altogether because they can’t afford it. One estimate published by the Florida Policy Institute found 1.4 million Floridians could become uninsured.

 NBC 6 South Florida: Impact of government shutdown on ACA health plans

By: Steve Litz, November 3, 2025

IN STUDIO ANCHOR: Open enrollment is underway for the Affordable Care Act. People enrolled in the program, also known as Obamacare, are logging onto the government website and are shocked to see how high their insurance premiums have spiked.

It's a direct result of the government shutdown. NBC 6 political reporter Steve Litz has the details. 

STEVE LITZ, REPORTER: Health care drives some people to tears...

KARA FARLEY, ENROLLED IN AFFORDABLE CARE ACT INSURANCE PLAN: "I can get treatment for my husband...I do appreciate you being here today." 

STEVE LITZ, REPORTER: Kara Farley, with 4 kids at a town hall meeting today and sharing her story. 

KARA FARLEY, ENROLLED IN AFFORDABLE CARE ACT INSURANCE PLAN: "I've lived life without insurance and cancer and I battled for many years, not knowing if I could go for my next screening."

SETH GROSSMAN, ENROLLED IN AFFORDABLE CARE INSURANCE PLAN: "We were at 3,000 a month this past year - and on Saturday, I noticed that it was going up to $4,500."

STEVE LITZ, REPORTER: Florida leads the country with 4.7 million people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act and Miami-Dade county leads the nation with about 1 million residents enrolled. Three Democratic Senators, from outside Florida, came to this town hall today, saying the Sunshine State will be the epicenter of the health care crisis. 

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STEVE LITZ, REPORTER: Affordable Care Act subsidies are at the heart of the government shutdown, with Democrats insisting those credits be included in the spending measure to open the government, Republicans argue health care negotiations can wait until after the government reopens. 

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About Florida Voices for Health

Florida Voices for Health is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to improve health care outcomes for all Floridians. We are a coalition of community organizations, businesses, and individuals working to create a health care system that works for every Floridian. Our partners work together to bring the latest resources and information into our communities. We also make sure that the stories and the interests of hard working, low and moderate income Floridians are represented in the health reform debate.