“I’m a cancer survivor—colon cancer—for six years.”
Cancer survivor Mark Steigerwald owns a small business in Eau Claire County. “I’m not a slacker,” Mark said. “I don’t take advantage of the system. I work hard. I employ people.”
While Wisconsinites face continuous sticker shock over everyday goods because of cumulative inflation, Mark’s soaring health insurance costs pack an even bigger financial blow due to the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies and rising medical inflation.
“My health insurance is through the Affordable Care Act (ACA),” Mark told UpNorthNews. “And with the new bill—the big crappy bill—I lost the subsidies that were in place before.”
“And last year, I paid $938 a month for my health insurance for my wife and I. This year, it’s $2,743 a month. That’s a $21,600 increase.”
What’s the ACA?
The ACA is a 2010 healthcare reform law designed to make health insurance more affordable and available to more people. The marketplace, Healthcare.gov, was created under the ACA for people to purchase individual or family health insurance policies if they don’t have health insurance coverage through an employer or other group and don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare.
The enhanced subsidies were passed in 2021 and extended in 2022. Congressional Republicans allowed enhanced tax credits to expire and pushed for sweeping federal Medicaid cuts, while Wisconsin state legislative Republicans have continuously blocked full Medicaid expansion.
Republicans like Rep. Tom Tiffany and Sen. Ron Johnson firmly opposed continuing the funding, as did Wisconsin US Rep. Derrick Van Orden originally.
In a surprise reversal, Van Orden voted for a three-year extension, but is still calling for the law to be repealed.
As the only GOP member of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to vote for the subsidies, Van Orden said the vote would buy time for Republicans to fix a broken health care system. Democrats said it was “purely performative” and aimed at boosting his chances in what’s expected to be a tough reelection campaign.
“DC Derrick has learned how to play swamp games better than anyone, flip-flopping after years of trying to undermine, defund, and repeal the ACA,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker. “After already voting to let ACA funding end, this was a purely performative vote—an attempt to salvage Van Orden’s re-election prospects that have become grimmer and grimmer.”
Premiums go up
Defend America Action and Protect Our Care Wisconsin released a new report highlighting the healthcare crisis they say Trump and Republicans have created in Wisconsin. The report shows with ACA credits gone, premiums rose an average of 148% for more than 270,000 Wisconsinites, with around 25,000 on Medicaid or the ACA losing or dropping their healthcare coverage entirely.
“We have seen tax cuts for the millionaires and the billionaires, healthcare costs continue to rise, and access is being denied,” said Wisconsin state Democratic Sen. Brad Pfaff. “We deserve better, as Wisconsinites—those people who work hard here in western Wisconsin—we deserve to have a member of Congress and leaders in Washington, DC that will work for us.”
“What’s happening here is not unique to Wisconsin,” said Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN from eastern Wisconsin. “It is a preview of what is coming for every state in the US because of the Trump regime’s cuts to Medicaid and the ACA, and this is the tip of the iceberg.”
“I have literally taken care of moms with high-risk pregnancies who deliver their babies on the side of the road—not because they didn’t want a hospital—but because the closest hospital shut down and the next closest hospital wasn’t close enough.”
“We didn’t get here by accident,” said Protect Our Care’s Joe Zepecki. “This was a choice made by Congressman Tom Tiffany, Congressman Derrick Van Orden, Congressman Bryan Steil—all of them.”
“They were warned that costs would go up, access would go down, and they took the vote anyway. Why did they do it? They chose what they chose so that massive giveaways to massive corporations and billionaires could be called ‘paid for.’”
“Get off your butts”
Mark explained he has to have regular doctor visits, tests, scans, and follow-ups to catch any potential recurrence, so he has to have insurance.
“I did call private insurance companies and none of them would take a cancer patient. So I have the option of the ACA only.”
Mark says he’s at least fortunate that his business allows him to work more in order to bring in extra revenue—most people wouldn’t be able to afford an increase of $20,000.
“I think about farmers and I think about other businesses that run slimmer margins, and I think ‘how are those guys going to make it?’ They’re going without or they’re skimping on plans, and I’m lucky I don’t have to do that. But it’s not good.”
During the 2026 ACA marketplace open enrollment period, more than 20,000 Wisconsinites dropped their health insurance coverage because of rising premium costs and the loss of federal financial assistance.
Mark says he spent time contacting federal representatives—Van Orden, Tiffany, and Johnson—criticizing them for not backing a tax credit extension and urging them to take legislative action to lower healthcare costs.
“They’re showing they don’t care about small business,” Mark said. “They don’t care about the health of citizens.”
“They say they take care of them, but they’re not out for those guys. They’re not out for us. So, they’ve got all kinds of money for their pet projects, for their monuments, for their foreign incursions.”
“They don’t have any money for actual health. That tells you a lot about the character of the people, where they put their money. So, I’m asking those guys in the Senate to get off their butts and do something. Maybe take this thing up. Either prove that they don’t care with a vote or get us some help. “
RELATED: Wisconsinites press Congress over unaffordable health insurance
