ICYMI: On CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, Shaheen Emphasizes Importance and Urgency of Extending ACA Enhanced Premium Tax Credits

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), author of bicameral legislation to permanently extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, joined CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper last night to discuss the urgent need for Congress to preserve and extend the tax credits that have made health care more affordable for tens of millions of Americans and are set to expire at the end of the year. Shaheen warned that if the tax credits aren’t extended before their end-of-year expiration millions of Americans will be kicked off their health insurance plans and millions more—including small business owners and employees—will face significantly higher premiums. Click HERE to watch Senator Shaheen’s full interview.

Key quotes from Senator Shaheen:

• “Look, I think it's in everyone's interest—Republicans, Democrats, Independents, the country's interest—to keep the government open, but it's also in everyone's interest to ensure that those people who need health care can get the health care when they need it at a cost they can afford. And that's what we're talking about when we're talking about extending this program of what we call enhanced premium tax credits that's been in place since COVID to help families be able to afford the cost of health care; to be able to be part of the Marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, and these credits are set to expire at the end of the year.”

• “There are a lot of ways to get this done. The question is, is there a willingness and a commitment to get it done? And I think what many of my Republican colleagues are beginning to hear from is their constituents who are getting those rate increases projected from their insurance companies. And you know, we've already had two of the President's pollsters say this is a real problem for the Republicans if they don't fix this.”

• “We have a couple of weeks between now and the end of this fiscal year to come up with an agreement, I would hope that saner heads will prevail and that we will be willing to sit down and negotiate an extension. Because it is not in anyone's interest, as I said, either to have a government shutdown or to have millions of people lose their health insurance.”

Just before the interview last night, Shaheen took to the Senate floor to lead a group of her Senate colleagues to call for Republican cooperation to keep the government open and extend the soon-expiring premium tax credits.

This week, Shaheen also released two new videos: One explaining the importance of enhanced premium tax credits, and the other showcasing a conversation with her constituent—Paul from Canaan, NH— discussing the importance of Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits for working families like his. Earlier this month, Shaheen and a group of her colleagues published the findings from a report they commissioned detailing the disastrous impacts Republican-led cuts to health care, including allowing enhanced premium tax credits to expire this year, will have on Americans’ health insurance plans. The report outlines a 75% increase in net premiums, the largest rate change insurers have requested since 2018.

Shaheen champions efforts in Congress to make health care more affordable and accessible for Granite Staters and all Americans. Shaheen’s first bill introduction this Congress was her landmark Health Care Affordability Act—bicameral legislation with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) to permanently extend enhanced premium tax credits for Marketplace coverage that have lowered health care costs for millions of Americans. In July, Shaheen delivered remarks alongside her Senate colleagues about the consequences of allowing the vital tax credits to expire at the end of this year.

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