New reporting from the Associated Press and NOTUS detail how “millions of Americans could face higher health insurance rates,” yet “Republican leadership currently has no plans to include an extension of the subsidies” in upcoming legislation.
First, Republicans enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in history so they could give tax breaks to their billionaire friends. Now, with lifesaving ACA tax credits set to expire by the end of the year – which would result in higher health insurance costs and loss of care – Republicans are brushing aside voters’ concerns and refusing to extend the credits.
DCCC Communications Director Courtney Rice:
“Democrats are united in lowering the cost of health care for all Americans. When voters go to the polls next year, they’ll remember which party caused their premiums to increase, and it will cost Republicans their House Majority.”
Associated Press: Millions face skyrocketing health insurance costs unless Congress extends subsidies
By Mary Clare Jalonick and Amanda Seitz
- Enrollment in ACA plans has surged to a record 24 million people in large part due to the billions of dollars in subsidies that have lowered costs for many people. The expanded subsidies allowed some lower income enrollees to access health plans with no premiums and capped the amount higher earners pay for premiums to 8.5% of their income. It also expanded eligibility for middle-class earners.
- With expiration now just a few months away, some of those people have already gotten notices that their premiums — the monthly fee paid for insurance coverage — are poised to spike next year. Insurers have sent out notices in nearly every state, with some proposing premium increases of as much as 50 percent.
- Lawmakers are facing pressure to act from some of the country’s biggest industries, including the insurers that cover people on the marketplace and hospital executives who say they’re already going to be squeezed by the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill.
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