ICYMI: New Poll Shows Overwhelming Majority of Americans – Including 57% of MAGA Republicans – Support Extending ACA Tax Credits That Allow Tens of Millions to Access Health Care
(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), lead author of bicameral legislation that would permanently extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits, is touting a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans support extending ACA enhanced premium tax credits that allow tens of millions of Americans to access health care.
Key findings:
- More than three-quarters (78%) of the public say they want Congress to extend the enhanced tax credits available to people with low and moderate incomes to make the health coverage purchased through the ACA’s Marketplace more affordable.
- This includes a majority of both Republicans (59%) and “Make American Great Again” supporters (57%) who favor extending the tax credits which otherwise would expire at the end of the year.
- Seven in ten (70%) Americans who purchase their own insurance say they would not be able to afford a doubling in their premiums without significantly disrupting their household finances.
- Four in ten (42%) Marketplace enrollees say they would go without health insurance coverage if the amount they had to pay for health insurance each month nearly doubled.
If Republicans allow the enhanced premium tax credits to expire, annual out-of-pocket premium costs will more than double for ACA Marketplace enrollees on average. Without extension of these tax credits, 4 million Americans could lose their coverage and 24 million more could see significantly higher premiums.
The new poll represents another political pressure point for Republicans in Congress and the White House, as new reporting indicates the White House is increasingly worried about losing the health care policy fight. Pollsters aligned with President Trump—Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward—found overwhelming bipartisan support for the tax credits, and another warned that Republicans’ failure to act would result in significant political consequences.
“The overwhelming majority of Americans—Republicans, Democrats and Independents—support extending the ACA enhanced premium tax credits because they know that working Americans can’t afford to see their premiums double,” said Senator Shaheen. "If we wait until the last minute, millions of Americans will lose their health coverage. There is a real urgency to extending these tax credits and given how many of our constituents would be impacted if they expire, I’m urging my colleagues across the aisle to help find a path forward.”
Shaheen?is leading efforts?in Congress to make health care more affordable through the preservation and extension of enhanced premium tax credits. 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 (IL-14) to permanently extend the tax credits for Marketplace coverage that have lowered health care costs for millions of Americans.
This week, Shaheen hosted a spotlight forum on the need for Congress to extend the soon-expiring tax credits that have made health care more affordable for tens of millions of Americans. The spotlight forum, entitled “The Clock is Ticking: Why Congress Must Extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits” featured several Democratic Senators and four witnesses.
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