THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) — Lawmakers in Congress did not approve an extension to Affordable Care Act tax credits in 2025. Now, many families are bracing for higher premiums in 2026.
- Many families in Thomas County could now face higher health insurance costs or lose coverage altogether.
- Providers warn rising costs may cause patients to delay care, causing chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and kidney failure to worsen.
- Watch the video below to learn more about the sliding-scale visits at PCSG and the free enrollment event they planned next month.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
As of today, extra help that lowered health insurance costs for thousands of families has officially expired.
I'm Layan Abu Tarboush, your Thomasville neighborhood reporter.
I'm checking in with Primary Care of Southwest Georgia to explain what this change means, who will feel it the most, and how this clinic is stepping up as more people struggle to afford care.
The Affordable Care Act, or ACA, helps families pay for health insurance through subsidies.
From 2021, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, extra help meant many people paid little or nothing for coverage.
But now, those extra savings are gone.
That means insurance premiums are going up, affecting families in Thomas County.
Take Amanda McGuire. She works full-time at Sweet Cacao and is a single mom of four.
She hasn't had a medical checkup in more than 10 years because of cost. Rising insurance prices only make it harder for her to get care.
"It discourages me, because in the past, when I have looked up to get insurance, I've seen those prices and I said, 'It's a little bit out of my price range, I'm going to have to wait,' thinking that if you waited, that things would look better or look up for you. And now, if they're increasing in price, that looks worse for me, in a sense of, I can't insure myself. I make sure that the children have insurance, but for myself, I don't have any," said McGuire.
Virgil Thomas, outreach and enrollment specialist at Primary Care Southwest Georgia, says he expects to see more and more people in that same boat, especially our middle class.
"What people tend to do is they put off appointments. They don't have insurance. They don't want to be seen because they're afraid of a cost. And what happens? Well, what happens is chronic conditions escalate. You're going to wind up getting more people that have congestive heart failure, people that have major diabetes issues, people who are starting to go down because they're suffering kidney failures," said Thomas.
At Primary Care, more than 70% of patients make less than 250% of the federal poverty level.
That's about $39,150 for an individual or $87,350 for a family of four. For these patients, Primary Care of Southwest Georgia can help with sliding-scale fees, so some visits cost as little as $25.
Even if a patient doesn't qualify for the discount, the average visit still costs only $165 to $170, no matter their income.
The real problem is that many patients need care beyond what primary care can provide.
While the clinic refers patients to local hospitals and specialist doctors for advanced treatment, those visits aren't covered by the sliding-scale program for uninsured or under-insured patients, so costs can still be high making it even more important to stay on top of primary care and catch problems early.
Virgil tells me open enrollment for the ACA through Georgia Access ends January 15, 2026.
If you're uninsured or just want to learn about your options, Primary Care of Southwest Georgia will host a free enrollment event at the Thomas County Public Library on January 8 from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.
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