As the Affordable Care Act Turns 16, Republican Policies Burden AZ Small Businesses

TUCSON — Sixteen years after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, congressional Republicans' refusal to extend health care tax credits significantly raise costs for hundreds of thousands of Arizonans, particularly small business owners the law was designed to help.

Prior to the ACA, middle-class Arizonans could only access health care coverage through their employer, forcing many would-be entrepreneurs following their dreams to start their own business to stay put. Fortunately, the ACA created a marketplace that allowed many to access individual health insurance plans.

Congressmen Schweikert and Ciscomani voted for cost-raising tariffs that are tariffs rising inflation for small businesses and customers alike, while at the same time the two Arizona leaders voted to block and then deny Arizonans cost-saving health care tax credits to help Arizonans better afford ACA coverage. 

According to Public News Service:

Arizona small business owners are making difficult decisions about health insurance coverage since Affordable Care Act premium subsidies expired at the end of 2025 and their monthly costs spiked.

About 245,000 Arizona residents received those health insurance premium tax credits last year, more than 90% of them federal marketplace enrollees.

So far this year, the end of the premium subsidies and sharply higher costs have prompted more than 70,000 fewer Arizonans to enroll in the federal marketplace.

Phoenix area Realtor Michelle Jernigan, a married mother of five, said she had to buckle down to afford health care this year after her plan was no longer available on the marketplace.

‘Our costs now have gone up to $1,700 a month for our family,’ said Jernigan. ‘So, we've seen an increase of $700 monthly.’”

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