Local nonprofit leaders bracing for healthcare subsidies to expire in 2026

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) - Local healthcare nonprofits, such as Elder Love USA in Palm Desert, are bracing for the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsides, which will affect how clients access their services.

"Because they can't afford the premiums now, they are going to lose access to all the things we're helping them with. So imagine your father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, no longer being able to bathe themselves, cook a meal, get to the doctor..." says Shannon Shea, director of Elder Love USA.

She says that without clients, their staff won't have jobs.

Nonprofit leaders say that 2025 brought a lot of uncertainty for the sector. A report from the National Survey of Nonprofit Trends and Impacts found that one in three nonprofits reported experiencing government funding disruptions.

Stephanie Minor, director of development for the Regional Access Point Foundation, advises nonprofits to diversify their portfolios. "You need to have individual donors, you need to have corporate sponsorship, you need to have funding from foundations," Minor says.