Shaheen, Underwood Lead Bicameral Letters Urging Congressional Leaders to Keep Health Care Costs Low by Extending Vital Enhanced Premium Tax Credits
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL) are writing to Congressional leaders and calling on them to act before enhanced Premium Tax Credits (PTCs) expire at the end of 2025 to protect the millions of Americans who rely on these tax credits for affordable health care. In their letters to the bipartisan leaders of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, Shaheen and Underwood warn that if the enhanced PTCs as passed in the Inflation Reduction Act are allowed to expire in 2025, over 20 million Americans will see a sudden increase in their health insurance costs, an estimated three million Americans could lose their health insurance entirely and nearly nine million people will pay more—roughly $406 per person—for coverage.
In the Senate letter, the lawmakers wrote: “Over the past 15 years, Congress has made enormous progress toward delivering affordable health care for all Americans. This includes providing additional financial support through enhanced Premium Tax Credits (PTCs) for the 20 million Americans who buy their coverage on the individual marketplaces, expanding Medicaid to cover an additional 24 million people and lowering prescription drug costs for tens of millions of older adults.”
They continued: “The enhanced PTCs have protected millions of Americans from higher health care costs, reduced the number of Americans without coverage, provided robust choices for consumers and provided stability for health care providers, particularly in rural areas. It is clear that the enhanced PTCs have proven to be an overwhelming success, and, as millions of Americans face an increase in their insurance costs, it is time to make the investment permanent.”
In the House letter, lawmakers said: “The enactment of the enhanced PTCs by Congress was a foundational step towards keeping health care premiums low and putting money back in families’ pockets – and our work is just getting started. By including provisions to extend the enhanced PTCs in the soonest possible legislative opportunity and creating a pathway for making them permanent, we can finish the job for the American people and keep quality health care within reach for our constituents.”
Full text of the Senate letter can be found here.
Full text of the House letter can be found here.
41 Democratic U.S. Senators co-signed Shaheen’s letter, and 154 Democratic U.S. Representatives co-signed Underwood’s letter.
Shaheen has spearheaded efforts to lower premiums to make health insurance more affordable for patients through her signature legislation, the Improving Health Insurance Affordability Act. Shaheen successfully secured premium tax credit enhancement provisions in the American Rescue Plan. This expansion of premium tax credits marked the biggest improvement to the ACA since it became law over a decade ago. When the tax credits were set to expire at the end of last year, Shaheen successfully extended their authorization through the Inflation Reduction Act.
###
