HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green predicted Friday that thousands of Hawaii residents may give up their health insurance after Congress did not extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act policies.

Green pledged millions in local taxpayer funds to help them maintain coverage.

Hawaii’s 24,000 Affordable Care Act customers faced uncertainty in December as they had to reenroll without knowing whether extra subsidies would be extended.

Now that the subsidies are ending, customers must find more money or reduce their coverage.

Premium increases force difficult choices

Insurance agent and radio host Martha Khlopin works with about 300 people who depend on ACA premium subsidies.

“People, I think, will be making the decision, taking that risk and just praying they don’t get sick,” Khlopin said. “So I pray that too. Don’t get sick in 2026, because your premiums and co-pays might be a lot.”

As an example, Khlopin cited a 50-year-old man who makes $40,000. He was paying about $170 a month this year for a plan with good coverage. His new plan will cost about $500 a month starting in January.

“It’s a pretty big increase for him,” Khlopin said. “So what he decided to do was just use his savings to cover the premiums because he really needs to keep the very generous platinum plan that he has right now.”

Coverage downgrades expected

Khlopin said others are downgrading their coverage, choosing lower premiums but much higher out-of-pocket costs and deductibles.

“So it’s a lower premium, but you have higher cost because you have to meet a deductible,” Khlopin said, noting that could lead some people to avoid care.

“So if I do need a particular procedure that’s expensive, I might decide not to get that done, which ultimately can cause more problems down the road,” Khlopin said.

Green predicted an even more dire scenario with thousands choosing to go without coverage.

“That’s really bad, because it’s not just the lack of insurance for them. It’s also $150 million of uncompensated care to rural facilities to our community health centers,” Green said.

State tax credit proposal

Green proposed that the state make up the lost subsidies with a state tax credit for about 8,000 ACA customers.

“The analysis we did is that to do the enhanced subsidy that Congress walked away from for now would cost $16.5 million,” Green said.

“That would definitely be a very, very wonderful gift to people to know that there is some relief coming to lower those health insurance premiums,” Khlopin said.

What remains unclear is how quickly that aid could reach policyholders and what will happen to those who decided not to renew when the deadline for open enrollment ended Monday.

Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Spirits were high for the University of Hawaii Night outside of Honolulu Hale on Thursday, Dec. 18.

A special member of the UH football team was honored by the mayor. Even though it is called University of Hawaii Night, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi had one team in particular that he wanted to give praise to.

“We’re here tonight especially for the football team, given the great winning season they’ve had. But I really want to include the coaches in that, coaches never get enough credit,” Blangiardi said.

The star of the show was UH’s kicker, who is commonly known as the “Tokyo Toe,” who was honored with a proclamation that declared Dec. 18 as Kansei Matsuzawa Day.

“Consensus all-American, first in the school’s history, all of this deserves celebration,” Blangiardi said. “Kickers have always been my favorite guys, but this guy here is off the charts. You got to give him credit where credit is due, you know?”

The all-American kicker stayed humble despite the accolades and said he could never have done it without the local community.

“Because of the coaches, because of my teammates, that’s the biggest reason why I am here right now, so I want to appreciate everybody supporting me throughout my journey,” Matsuzawa said.

Hawaii’s athletic director had some good news in terms of the Rainbow Warriors being televised in the islands for fans who prefer to watch the games at home.

“Pay per view is a thing of the past, we’re not going to have that any longer, I’m committed to that, and we’re certain about that,” UH athletics director Matt Elliott said. “We are in the process of working on what is the next phase of our media rights deal, so, waiting for the Mountain West to finish their job, which is to figure out the national rights and partners, and then we’ll turn our focus on the local rights.”

Matsuzawa will take the field as a Warrior one last time against the University of California on Christmas Eve in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.