The Abortion Fund of Maryland, the largest reproductive nonprofit in the state, is continuing to see high demand for abortions, and the organizers fear the expiration of the ACA premium tax credits could leave even more people without care.

The fund helps pay for 2,500 visits to clinics each year so that women can get reproductive care. That includes things like food and lodging.

However, Lynn McCann-Yeh, the co-executive director of the Abortion Fund of Maryland told WYPR that calls are increasing in-state and from across the nation.

”We are still seeing an increase in inbound call volume of around 40% more calls year over year. But at the same time, the number of people that we're able to support on an annual basis has actually stayed pretty flat,” McCann-Yeh said. “The main reason for that is because, though demand is increasing, we just don't have the resources to keep up. We'd love to be able to provide more financial support, more hotels, travel coordination, meals and all those forms of wrap around support for people who are seeking abortion care, but we just don't have the funding to be able to do so.”

The Trump administration will discontinue the ACA tax credits starting in January, meaning Maryland premiums on public plans will increase by an average of 13.4%. Premiums in other states could increase more.

McCann-Yeh said that could lead to an even higher demand.

“The cuts to subsidies for the Affordable Care Act will add more strain to, you know, a network that's already increasingly under pressure,” McCann-Yeh said.

Clinicians in Maryland performed about 39,000 abortions last year, a 28% increase from 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit focused on sexual health research.

There is one silver lining, Maryland passed a law that will unlock money for grants for abortion services from a long-forgotten kitty of money.

The money comes from a fund that was created when the Affordable Care Act passed 15 years ago and has been growing since then.

“It mandated that insurers collect a $1 per month premium from Marylanders, which is then placed in a special fund designated exclusively for abortion care,” said Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman during a Thursday Senate Finance Committee hearing. “The truth is, the true cost of abortion care coverage is mere pennies on the dollar, leaving a significant portion of these funds untouched.”

Maryland’s law allows the state health department to tap those funds and allocate up to $2.5 million a year in grants to organizations operating in Maryland that offer abortion assistance. Those groups can use the money for traveling patients, low-income patients in Maryland, or people without insurance.

The law went into effect July 1, but the grant process has still not been solidified.