Wausau Free Clinic expecting spike in patients if ACA tax credits expire

Enrollment for healthcare through the ACA Marketplace ended yesterday, and without action from Congress, millions across the country will see a spike in premium prices in 2026.

Premium tax credits through the Affordable Care Act help low and middle-income families pay for their health insurance.

Jeffery Oswald is a family physician and Medical Director at the Wausau Free Clinic, which provides low-income and uninsured patients free primary care services. 

He says they have already seen an increase in patients since they opened in 2018.

“Every year we’ve grown by about 25 to 50% more patients. And that’s no different this year. We’re up about 40 percent when compared to last year”

Oswald said if the tax credits expire, it would have a significant impact on the number of people eligible for care at the free clinic. 

“I think if there’s a large influx of patients that need our services, it may take a while to get in. I can’t speak for what that will be,” he said. “I suspect it may be anywhere from two to four months, depending on what we can do to expand our services.”

The Wausau Free Clinic is a volunteer-run operation and they’re only open two half-days a week.

“We definitely feel that there’ll be more and more people that need our services,” Oswald said. “We just don’t know if we can offer any more time slots for those people to come in. So we’re very worried about what will happen if those subsidies aren’t approved.”

The US Senate last week failed to advance two competing proposals aimed at addressing the coming lapse in coverage.

Oswald said letting the tax credits expire would be catastrophic. 

“We’re really concerned that there’ll be so many individuals that need our services that we won’t be able to be available to everybody who needs our services,” Oswald said.

The US House now takes up the issue, but both chambers are set to adjourn until January on Friday.