GOV. MAURA HEALEY announced this month that the state would use $250 million from a state trust fund to assist some Massachusetts residents who have lost enhanced federal subsidies to pay for health care coverage. The Affordable Care Act tax credits were rolled out under the Biden administration during the pandemic through the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. They made it easier for people at more moderate income levels to access subsidized care.

But those credits expired at the end of 2025, with Republican resistance to extending them central to the government shutdown last year.

They may yet return, as there is some bipartisan support for the tax credits in the House, but the Senate still seems cool to the idea. In the meantime, some states have moved to fill the funding gap. In Massachusetts, Healey said the state will cover $250 million that had come from the federal government through ARPA by tapping the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund, a state account that draws on several revenue streams.

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith unravels the health coverage moves with Audrey Morse Gasteier, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, and Alex Sheff, senior director of policy and government affairs at Health Care For All.

Read some of the highlights on how we got here and what the funding change means for Massachusetts residents.