ICYMI: In Politico Q&A, Shaheen Warns of Consequences of Allowing ACA Tax Credits to Expire

**Shaheen leads bicameral legislation to make permanent the enhanced premium tax credits that have helped millions of Americans afford health insurance**

(Washington, DC) – In a Politico Q&A interview, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the lead author of bicameral legislation to permanently extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs), warned of the dire consequences to Americans’ health care costs and coverage should Congressional Republicans allow the highly-effective tax credits to expire at the end of this year. Shaheen has consistently urged her Republican colleagues to come to the table in good faith to prevent premium costs from skyrocketing for more than 20 million Americans, including more than 3 million small business owners who rely on these tax credits to afford health insurance. In the Q&A, Shaheen made the case that taking away these tax credits is even more distressing in light of unprecedented cuts to Medicaid and the ACA in the Republican reconciliation bill.

Key quotes from Senator Shaheen:

• “What we know is that when those premium tax credits expire, and the insurance companies this fall are setting their rates for next year … these rates go out to their consumers. The people are going to see increased costs and not be able to afford it, and that's going to have a huge impact.”
• “I assume that people may have heard from their constituents over the month of August that they don't want to lose their health insurance, and people are not going to be able to afford the increased cost if those premium tax credits go away. So it's not just a problem in New Hampshire. It's a problem across the country.”
• “So the House Republicans don't seem to have a problem with raising billions of dollars for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and for the biggest corporations, but they're not willing to provide, to extend assistance to people so they can pay for their health insurance? I don't think that's an argument that holds water.”

Shaheen champions efforts in Congress to make health care more affordable and accessible for Granite Staters, and has consistently sounded the alarm on the dangers of allowing ACA PTCs to expire. Earlier this month, Shaheen released a statement on a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis warning that ACA Marketplace plans could raise premiums by a median of 18% across all 50 states in 2026. That same week, Shaheen U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Mark Warner (D-VA), lead a group of their Democratic colleagues in requesting a detailed analysis of how Republican-led cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act will affect Americans’ health insurance plans. Shaheen’s first bill introduction this Congress was her landmark Health Care Affordability Act—bicameral legislation with Senator Baldwin and U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL) to permanently extend enhanced premium tax credits for Marketplace coverage that have lowered health care costs for millions of Americans.

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