On Thursday, October 16, healthcare advocacy groups, Community Catalyst and Families USA, co-hosted a national press call as part of a Week of Action emphasizing the urgent need for Congress to make the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits (EPTCs) permanent — a vital measure that helps over 20 million people afford coverage and care through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
According to the groups, if Congress does not permanently extend the EPTCs, a new report from the Georgetown Center on Health Insurance Reforms, along with analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, warns of serious consequences, namely that premiums could increase by up to 75 percent, and that nearly 4 million people could lose coverage entirely.
During the press call, Anthony Wright, executive director with Families USA, reiterated the importance of Congress extending the EPTCs. “Congress has repeatedly failed to act, blowing past critical deadlines that would have prevented harm and damage to millions of Americans and our economy,” Wright said. “Insurance companies have set their plan rate in 2026, and window shopping for the marketplaces is happening now.” Consumers are seeing the rate increases and are facing tough choices. However, the premium increases are not inevitable, Write said. “It's time to stop playing with politics with people's lives. Congress needs to get back to work so American people can get back to work and get the healthcare they need at a price that they can actually afford.”
Mona Shah, senior director of Policy & Strategy with Community Catalyst, shared that her organization is all too familiar with stories from people whose lives and health depend on the EPTCs. Families cannot absorb the financial shock of premium increases, Shah cautioned. “If Congress doesn't act, millions will lose coverage, with uninsured rates expected to jump by 27 percent in states that haven't expanded Medicaid.” “We are not looking for another short-term patch, but real stability for families, because every day of inaction means more uncertainty, more anxiety, and more people wondering if they'll lose coverage that keeps them healthy.”
Deepak Madala, director of the Center for Healthy Communities and ENROLL Virginia!, with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, shared that his organization provides free, impartial assistance to Virginians trying to navigate the various health coverage options in Virginia. Madala said that they've seen significant progress in the last six years, getting to some of the lowest uninsured rates ever in Virginia. The Medicaid expansion in 2019 and the enhanced subsidies played a crucial role, he highlighted.
Virginia has posted their rates much earlier than most states, Madala shared. This led to many clients reaching out for help to navigate the higher costs.
Ricky Coates, artistic director, science instructor, and storyteller, relayed his experience navigating the ACA marketplace with the audience. He said that he never had a job through which healthcare benefits were offered, so he and his wife relied on the ACA marketplace since its inception. He shared that he is losing sleep at night thinking about the increase in health insurance premiums. With three jobs already, it's not like we can take on another job to keep paying for our health insurance, Coates shared.
On the same day as the press call, Families USA led more than 150 organizations in calling on Congress to take immediate action and permanently extend the enhanced premium tax credits through a letter.
“Without a timely extension of the enhanced premium tax credits, more than 20 million people – including about 5 million small business owners and self-employed people, along with 6 million older adults – will see their health care costs skyrocket,” the organizations wrote in the letter addressed to Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and Minority Leader Jeffries.
