Milwaukee health center bracing for potential changes to health insurance landscape
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Outreach Community Health Center in Milwaukee is preparing for a new year that may see a majority of their patients without insurance.
House Republicans are set to vote on a bill this week that would not extend enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.
“I would say we’re probably going to see a lot more traffic of people coming in,” Outreach President Julia Harris-Robinson said. “Those people are going to have less coverage, less insurance, which is going to mean that we are going to generate less revenue, which means that we will be cutting back services."
Outreach sees around 21,000 patients each year, 50% relying on Medicaid, 15% uninsured or relying on modest coverages, and the rest relying on Medicare and commercial insurances.
“We had one lady that came in, her premiums this year are $10.65, next year her premium was $106.50,” Harris-Robinson said. “That’s like 10 times what she was paying.”
Harris-Robinson says 30% of patients that have applied for ACA benefits in 2026 have signed on, but the other 70% could enter the new year without insurance.
“At some point, people are going to just choose not to have insurance,” Harris-Robinson said. “That’s going to wreak havoc on our health care system.”
Those without insurance can still get treated at Outreach but would not be able to go other places for special treatments like surgery.
“That’s not coverage, what that is, is just allowing you to come here and get service, but if you have any service outside of what we offer here, you won't have coverage anywhere else,” Harris-Robinson said.
With the new year quickly approaching, Outreach is gearing up for what could be an unpredictable start of 2026.
“There’s going to be this ripple effect that people are going to get sicker and sicker before they come in, so those costs are going to get higher and higher and everybody’s going to have to eat those costs,” Outreach Chief Medical Officer Nicole Mubanga said.