For Mikayla Tencer, being self-employed already meant juggling higher taxes, irregular income and the constant pressure of finding her own health insurance. This year, it also meant rethinking how often she could afford to see a doctor.
The 29-year-old content creator in San Francisco paid $168 a month last year for a Blue Shield health plan through Covered California. This year — without enhanced federal subsidies that expired at the end of December — that same plan would have cost $299 a month, with higher copays.
“People assume that because I’m young, I can just pick the cheapest plan and not worry about it,” Tencer said. “But I do need regular care, especially for mental health.”
Tencer is among tens of thousands of middle-class Californians facing steep increases in health insurance costs after Congress allowed enhanced federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans to expire Dec. 31.
Those extra subsidies were enacted in 2021 as part of temporary, pandemic-era relief, boosting financial help for people buying coverage on state-run insurance marketplaces such as Covered California. The law also expanded eligibility to people earning more than 400% of the federal poverty level, about $62,600 for a single person and $128,600 for a family of four.
Mikayla Tencer records a TikTok video featuring eyeliners. Her blog showcases Bay Area attractions and local businesses.
(Paul Kuroda/For The Times)
With the expiration of the enhanced subsidies, people above that income threshold no longer receive federal assistance, and many who still qualify are seeing sharply higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs. On top of the loss of the extra federal benefits, the average Covered California premium this year rose by 10.3% because of fast-rising medical costs.
To lower her monthly bill, Tencer switched to the cheapest Covered California option, bringing her premium down to about $161 a month. But the savings came with new costs. Primary care and mental health visits now carry $60 copays, up from $35.
When she showed up for a psychiatric appointment to manage her ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder, she said, she learned her doctor was out of network.
“That visit would have been $35 before,” she said. “Now it’s $180 out of pocket.”
Because of the higher costs, Tencer said she has cut therapy from weekly to biweekly sessions.
“The subsidies made it possible for me to be self-employed in the first place,” Tencer said. “Without them, I’m seriously thinking about applying for full-time jobs, even though the market is terrible.”
For another self-employed Californian, the increase was even more dramatic.
Krista, a 42-year-old photographer and videographer in Santa Cruz County, relies on costly monthly intravenous treatments for a rare blood disorder. She asked that her full name not be used but shared her insurance and medical documents with The Times.
Last year, she paid about $285 a month for a Covered California plan. In late December, she received a notice showing her premium would rise to more than $1,200 a month. The rise was due to her loss of federal subsidies, as well as a 23% increase in the premium charged by Blue Shield.
“It terrified me. I thought, how am I ever going to retire?” she asked. “What’s the point?”
Krista ultimately enrolled in a plan costing about $522 a month, still nearly double what she had been paying, with a $5,000 deductible. She said she cannot downgrade to a cheaper plan because her clinic bills her treatment to insurance at roughly $30,000 a month, according to medical statements.
To cut costs and preserve the ability to save for retirement and eventually afford a place of her own, Krista decided to move into an RV on private land. The decision came the same week she received notices showing a rent increase and a steep jump in her health insurance premiums.
Mikayla Tencer, a marketing influencer, with her elder dog, “Lucky” at Alamo Square Park.
(Paul Kuroda/For The Times)
Krista said she had been planning for more than a year to find a long-term living situation that would enable her to live independently, rather than continue paying more for an apartment.
“Nobody asks to be sick,” Krista said. “No one should have their life ruined because they get diagnosed with a disease or break a leg.”
Jessica Altman, executive director of Covered California, said that about 160,000 Californians lost their subsidies when the enhanced federal assistance expired because their incomes were higher than 400% of the federal poverty level.
Although overall enrollment in Covered California this year has held steady, Altman said, she worries that more people will drop coverage as bills with the higher premiums arrive in the mail.
Those fears are already playing out.
Jayme Wernicke, a 34-year-old receptionist and single mother in Chico who earns about $49,000 a year, said she was transferred from Medi-Cal to a Covered California Anthem Blue Cross plan at the end of 2023. Her premium rose from about $30 a month to $60, then jumped to roughly $230 after the subsidies expired.
“For them to raise my health insurance almost 400% is just insane to me,” Wernicke said.
Her employer, a small family-owned business, does not offer health insurance. Her plan does not include dental or vision care and, she said, barely covers medical costs.
“At a certain point, it just feels completely counterintuitive,” she said. “Either way, I’m losing.”
Wernicke dropped her own coverage and plans to pay for care with cash, calculating that the state tax penalty is less than the cost of premiums. Her daughter remains insured.
Two other Californian residents told The Times that they also decided to go without coverage because they could no longer afford it. They declined to provide their full names, citing concerns about financial and professional consequences.
Under California law, residents without coverage face an annual penalty of at least $900 per adult and $450 per child.
One, a 29-year-old self-employed publicist in Los Angeles requires medication for epilepsy. Last year, she paid about $535 a month for a silver plan through Covered California. This year, the same plan would have cost $823.
After earning about $55,000 last year, she calculated that paying for care out of pocket would cost far less. Her epilepsy medication costs about $175 every three months without insurance, and her annual doctor visits total roughly $250.
“All of that combined is still far less than paying hundreds of dollars every month,” she said.
Another, April, a 58-year-old small-business owner in San Francisco, canceled her insurance in December after her quoted premium rose to $1,151 a month for a bronze plan and $1,723 for a silver plan, just for herself. Last year, April said she paid $566 for both her and her daughter. This year, her daughter’s premium alone jumped from $155 to $424.
The bronze plan also carried a $3,500 deductible for lab work and specialist visits, meaning she would have had to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket before coverage kicked in, on top of the higher monthly premium.
“The subsidies were absolutely what allowed me to sustain my business,” April said. “They were helping me sustain my financial world and have affordable care.”
She rushed to complete medical tests before dropping coverage and hopes to go a year uninsured.
“The scariest part is not having catastrophic coverage,” she said. “If something happens, it can be millions of dollars.”
Tencer, the content creator in San Francisco, believes that in order to make the nation healthier, affordable healthcare should be universal.
“Our government should be providing it.” she said. “People can’t go to the doctor for routine checkups, they can’t get things checked out early, and they can’t access the resources they need.”
The TV Licence fee rose to £174.50 in April 2025, but some people may need to pay twice
A standard TV Licence costs £174.50 per year (Image: Creative Images Lab via Getty Images)
Many households faced a rise in the TV Licence fee last year, with the Government pushing the price up to £174.50 in April 2025. This yearly payment is generally required for homes and businesses watching live television, including broadcasts on services such as Netflix and YouTube, as well as BBCiPlayer content.
Whilst just one licence covers each household, the situation is different for people with a second home or a caravan. Sometimes, you might need to get another TV Licence for that property, which could see the total bill jump to £349.
Additional TV Licences are particularly necessary if you intend to view TV channels on any service, live broadcasts on streaming services, and BBC iPlayer from a second property. According to official TV Licensing online guidance, this covers any device in a house, flat, bungalow, or cottage.
The only exception is if you exclusively use devices running on their own batteries, so they’re not linked to an aerial or connected to the mains electricity. In those circumstances, your main residence’s TV Licence will suffice.
Yet completely separate rules apply to those living in a touring caravan, static caravan, boat, mobile home, or moveable chalet. Official guidance confirms that your main home’s TV Licence should cover you, provided nobody is watching live programmes or accessing BBC iPlayer at the same time at your main licensed address.
In this case, you’ll be required to complete a declaration form, which ought to take just a few minutes. The forms can be accessed in both English and Welsh.
Official TV licensing guidance adds: “You could be prosecuted if we find that you have been watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally. The maximum penalty is a £1,000 fine plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay.
“A standard TV Licence costs £174.50 and a black and white licence costs £58.50.” For more information, click here.
Why has the licence fee gone up?
The Secretary of State approved a 2.9% hike in the licence fee for 2024, coming into force from April 1, 2025, aligned with annual CPI inflation. This represents a daily increase of just over 1p and is only the second fee rise since April 1, 2021.
The adjustment has raised the annual colour licence fee to £174.50, while the black-and-white licence now costs £58.50 annually. Moving forward, licence fee rises will track CPI inflation for the following four years, ending in 2027.
What does a TV Licence include?
Your payment encompasses four main elements. According to the Express, these include:
All TV channels – like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, U&Dave and international channels
Pay TV services – like Sky, Virgin Media and EE TV
Win-win might be overstating the outcome. But when the Dodgers emailed their roughly 55 tour guides Wednesday to say they were getting the pay raise they sought during a failed attempt to unionize, there must have been more smiles than frowns.
The Dodgers and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees reached an agreement in October, but ratification of the pact by the union failed by one vote. A second vote also narrowly failed. Then in January the tour guides voted to decertify the union, meaning the pay raise and increased stadium security on non-game days IATSE and the Dodgers had agreed upon were off the table.
Not for long. The Dodgers bumped up the guides’ pay from $17.87 to $24 an hour — the same increase they would have gotten under the scrapped union contract.
That’s hardly Kyle Tucker money: The Dodgers’ new right fielder signed a contract for $240 million over four years, an average annual value of $60 million. The Dodgers will pay the tour guides a grand total of about $650,000 in 2026 — $170,000 of that reflecting the raise of about $3,000 per person. Tucker will make 92 times the entire tour guide payroll annually.
Dodger Stadium tours have become increasingly popular — generating more than $1 million a year in revenue — because of recent stadium renovations, two consecutive World Series championships and the signings of Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
“The tour program has grown so much in the age of Ohtani,” said Ray Lokar, a veteran Dodgers tour guide whose full-time career was as a high school coach and athletic director for nearly 40 years. “The visibility and security responsibilities have been amplified. It’s grown from a mom‐and‐pop operation of a dozen people showing folks around the stadium to a multimillion-dollar asset.”
Tours now take place every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The burgeoning demand has caused breaches in stadium security, with guides flagging instances of tour participants entering the top deck with backpacks and even rolling suitcases going unchecked.
The union agreement included a promise by the Dodgers to beef up security. Some guides worried that the decertification would mean the team might continue to ignore their safety concerns. However, the letter to tour guides announcing the raise also addressed stadium security without offering specifics.
“I want you to know that we hear you, team, and we see you,” wrote Kayla Rodiger, Dodgers senior manager of tours. “Your concerns are valid, and I’ll be working closely with our front office colleagues to ensure we make a sincere and meaningful effort to address them.
“That being said, we are actively discussing security issues around the stadium, and I hope to have an update for you on your Top Deck concerns soon.”
Nicole Miller, president of IATSE Local B-192, led the union negotiations that fell short of a contract but likely nudged the Dodgers into addressing the pay and security issues on their own.
“Make no mistake, our IATSE Local B-192 bargaining team’s efforts were crucial in the tour guides obtaining a significant wage increase, and we hope they follow up on their promise to increase security,” Miller said.
The letter from Rodiger also said that the Dodgers’ longtime practice of offering tour guides comp tickets would continue. The perk of four reserve-level tickets for each of the 13 homestands in a season is worth $2,600 assuming the tickets are valued at $50 each. Miller said that in 2024 only three tour guides took all 52 tickets; on average, each guide took 32.
The Dodgers refused to mention free tickets in the union agreement because they said other part-time union employees would demand the same perk. Still, the uncertainty surrounding the tickets kept several guides from voting for union representation.
The contentious negotiations and near 50-50 split among the membership prompted veteran tour guide Cary Ginell to retire, sending a letter Jan. 23 to several of the Dodgers’ top executives.
“I’m writing to let you know that the tour program has become a dysfunctional battle between pro and anti-union factions with resentment and animosity on both sides,” wrote Ginell, a Grammy-nominated author of more than a dozen books on American music. “As an executive, you should be concerned about this, because it reflects on the entire Dodger organization.
“Above all, I wanted what was best for the tour guides, especially the younger ones who struggle to earn a living by working multiple jobs, but come to work afraid of who will be reporting on them and what threats might occur due to the absence of building security.”
Less than two weeks later, the Dodgers responded.
“Over the past two years, our department has thrived, earning recognition across the Dodgers organization, the league, and the City of Los Angeles,” Rodiger wrote to the tour guides. “Your ability to stay focused and uphold our standards to continue to give World Champion level tours has not gone unnoticed, and I promise you all that your contributions to this organization are not taken for granted.”
The beloved snooker icon and BBC commentator has died at the age of 79, reports Wales Online.
Sharing the sad news at the close of Wednesday’s edition of the BBC programme (February 4), TV star JB announced: “Before we go we just wanted to take a moment to mention today’s news about the death of former UK snooker champion John Virgo at the age of 79.”
“Many of us also fondly remember him from his commentating work and his TV programmes like Big Break so of course our thoughts are with his family and his friends,” continued the star.
“Of course,” his co-host Alex Jones acknowledged as she sat beside him on the sofa.
Whilst the presenters paid tribute, a photograph of the late snooker legend appeared on screen.
It was revealed earlier in the day that Virgo had died, prompting a wave of sorrow from his fans and the snooker community.
A statement on the World Snooker Instagram account read: “Everyone at World Snooker Tour is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of legendary snooker player and broadcaster John Virgo, aged 79.
“Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Rest in peace, JV.”
It was shared on the platform alongside a black and white photograph of Virgo with the dates 1946 to 2026.
Fans have been offering tributes on social media following the announcement.
“Aww he was great RIP,” one person wrote on X, which was formerly Twitter.
“To me John Virgo was like Eddie Butler was to rugby commentary, he was the voice of snooker,” remarked another person. Others hailed him as a “legend”.
One fan of the late snooker ace wrote on the platform: “I grew up watching the snooker decades ago and watching John Virgo was always brilliant. His skill as a player was immense but what a great character RIP.”
“Mr Virgo you were very much loved,” they added in the moving post.
How much you’ll pay for a new or replacement passport can vary
Passports can cost quite a bit(Image: clubfoto via Getty Images)
The price of a new or replacement passport rose in 2025, with some people having to shell out as much as £222 for the important travel document. Everyone in the UK needs a passport for international travel.
As per Gov.uk, you can apply for a British passport if you’re a British citizen, a British overseas territories citizen, a British overseas citizen, a British subject, a British national (overseas), or a British protected person. These documents are issued by HM Passport Office and currently take roughly three weeks or less to arrive.
Most people will have to pay a fee to renew an existing passport or to apply for a new one, including those for children. As of April 2025, a standard adult passport, for those aged 16 and over, costs £94.50 when applying online, or £107 when applying using the paper form.
A standard child’s passport now costs £69, or £74 for a postal application. If you need the document urgently, you can expect so pay significantly more for a passport. The fee for a Premium Service (one day) application is £222 for adults, or £189 for a child’s passport.
Those applying for a UK passport from overseas will have to pay £108, or £70 for a child’s passport. If applying internationally via the paper form, the cost is £120.50 for adults and £77 to £82.50 for children, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
While the majority of applicants will need to pay for their passports, some people can get theirs for free. If you were born on or before September 2, 1929, you can apply for a new British passport or renew your existing one without any cost.
You can also use the Post Office Check and Send service at no charge and benefit from complimentary secure delivery. However, the government has confirmed that charges must be paid if you require a passport urgently or if you wish to obtain a frequent traveller passport (one containing more pages than the standard version).
The UK government is said to be planning a significant increase in the cost of its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), hurting travellers’ pockets once again.
A second ETA fee increase in less than a year is reportedly on route(Image: )
Travellers heading to the UK could soon be forced to dig deeper in their pockets as the government plans to increase the cost of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA). A 25% rise is claimed to be in the offing, which would push the fee up from £16 to £20.
The ETA scheme, first rolled out back in 2023, applies only to visitors from countries that do not require a visa to enter the UK. This includes citizens from EU member states, as well as visitors from the US, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, among others.
It allows multiple trips to the UK with stays of up to six months over a two-year period, or until a traveller’s passport expires. Nevertheless, this isn’t the first price rise in recent times, and is yet another sign of people’s pockets being hit.
Just last year, the cost of an ETA jumped up by 60%, going from £10 to £16, with this higher fee enforced in April 2025. Now, a home office briefing suggests ministers want to pump up the price once again, although no official date has been confirmed, and the increase would still require parliamentary approval.
“As with all our fees, the cost of an ETA is kept under review, and we intend to increase the cost of an ETA to £20 in the future,” said a Home Office spokesperson. “We will provide more information in due course.”
The government has been a strong defender of the scheme, revealing that 19.6 million ETAs were granted over its first two years of operation, up to last September. Further changes are on the way, however, with new rules from February 25 preventing eligible visitors from boarding transport on route to the UK without an approved ETA.
Travellers passing through UK airports on connecting flights via passport control still need an ETA, unless they are going through London Heathrow or Manchester airports and do not cross the UK border.
This potential price hike has sparked concern across the travel industry, with Joss Croft, CEO of travel association UKinbound saying: “Increasing visa and ETA costs risks pulling the visitor economy in the wrong direction and stunting that growth.
“International visitors have a choice, and the UK already has some of the highest entry costs in the world. Making it even more expensive to visit undermines our competitiveness and puts valuable export income at risk.
“Inbound tourism supports jobs, high streets, pubs and hospitality businesses in communities across the UK. If the government wants growth to be felt locally, it must rethink these increases and keep the UK open, welcoming and competitive.”
It comes after other countries and regions confirmed plans to raise their own travel authorisation fees. The EU is expected to charge €20 for its upcoming ETIAS system, due to launch in late 2026, while the US ESTA fee almost doubled to $40 in September 2025.
