These small-business owners will become uninsured after key ACA subsidies expire

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When patients come to Eric Frankenfeld’s chiropractic practice with insurance woes, his wife, Lisa, the office manager, tells them not to worry because she’ll work with them to keep care affordable.

But starting in January, the Frankenfelds might need to ask for the same treatment from their own doctors, since they will become uninsured. The Point Pleasant, New Jersey, couple will no longer be able to afford their Obamacare plan after the enhanced premiums subsidies lapse at year’s end. They decided to forgo coverage after learning that their plan’s premium will skyrocket to $1,928 a month, up from $340 this year.

Though they are both healthy, the idea of losing coverage keeps Lisa Frankenfeld, 62, up at night — worrying one of them might be diagnosed with cancer, suffer a stroke or heart attack or get into a serious accident.

“We are health care providers who cannot afford benefits. Oh, the irony,” she told CNN. “Purchasing a plan doesn’t make financial sense. We’re just going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.”

These small-business owners will become uninsured after key ACA subsidies expire

When patients come to Eric Frankenfeld’s chiropractic practice with insurance woes, his wife, Lisa, the office manager, tells them not to worry because she’ll work with them to keep care affordable.

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The Frankenfelds are among the millions of Affordable Care Act enrollees who are facing tough decisions this open enrollment season, which ends January 15 in most states. More than 90% of ACA policyholders — or about 22 million people — receive the enhanced subsidies, which spurred record sign-ups for Obamacare coverage this year.

A sizeable share of those enrollees are self-employed or own or work at small businesses. Nearly half of adults in the individual health insurance market — the vast majority of which is purchased through Obamacare exchanges — are affiliated with a small business, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. Enrollees’ premium payments are expected to jump 114%, on average, next year.