60-year-old lost ACA subsidies, can't afford $903 healthcare premium

In a report from Businessinsider, CJ Richey, 60, is among millions who lost enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies when they expired on December 31; her monthly marketplace premium rose from $265 to $903, and she says the spike will likely push her to drop coverage this spring.

Richey, a self-employed addiction recovery counselor in Colorado who had purchased marketplace coverage for nearly a decade, said the subsidies had helped pay for prescriptions, doctor visits, scans, and surgeries. Her current plan carries an $8,000 deductible, and she said she keeps it mainly for emergencies.

To afford the premium she has cut spending, moved a car payment, canceled subscriptions, taken on more client hours, and sometimes pays providers in cash or orders a medication through Mark Cuban's CostPlus Drugs program. "I just don't know what to do," she said, and plans to avoid the doctor as long as possible.