Reed & Whitehouse join Protect Our Healthcare Coalition to urge Senate to extend ACA Tax Credits

From a press release:

"With rising costs impacting Americans everywhere, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse are urging Senate Republicans to join them in lowering health care costs for millions of families.

"On Monday, January 12, at 10:30 am, Reed and Whitehouse joined leading advocates from the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition in calling on Congress to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits and stop health care premiums from skyrocketing for Rhode Island families, including over 41,000 Rhode Islanders who depend on HealthSourceRI for coverage. About 13,000 Rhode Islanders are expected to drop health insurance coverage altogether.

"Inaction and obstruction by President Trump and Congressional Republican leaders have made health coverage more expensive for millions of Americans nationwide.

"ACA tax credits scale with income, and without the enhanced subsidies, lower-income enrollees face potentially huge percentage increases in premiums, with some seeing costs rise over 500 percent. Rhode Island’s economy stands to lose nearly $60 million in federal health subsidies, along with tens of millions of dollars in federal funding that would have flowed to local health care providers if the ACA tax credits remained in place.

"On January 8, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 230-196 to pass a bipartisan bill to extend by three years the recently expired ACA premium tax credits. Seventeen House Republicans voted with Democrats after a discharge petition allowed House lawmakers to bypass Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) control of the legislative voting agenda.

"Rhode Island’s senators say the bipartisan House vote provides much-needed momentum to pass a clean, three-year extension of the enhanced ACA tax credits in the U.S. Senate."