Shaheen on New Findings that ACA Marketplace Premiums Will More Than Double if Congress Doesn’t Act: ‘We Must Find a Path Forward’

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), lead author of bicameral legislation that would permanently extend enhanced premium tax credits that help tens of millions of Americans afford health insurance, released the following statement on a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. The analysis warns that expiration of the tax credits is estimated to more than double what ACA Marketplace enrollees currently pay annually for premiums—a 114% increase from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.

“Allowing the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits to expire at the end of this year means that 4 million Americans could lose their coverage, and 20 million more could see significantly higher premiums. Now, new estimates are showing that the financial burden of soaring health care costs for millions of Americans will be even worse than previously feared. Working people and families cannot afford to have their health insurance premiums double, as experts are predicting they will.

“It is imperative that both parties work together to find a path forward, extend these tax credits and stop families and individuals' insurance premiums from doubling. I have had encouraging conversations with colleagues from both sides of the aisle and I am eager to work with them to find common ground. At a time when so many Americans are struggling with high costs, delay is not an option and failure to find a path that keeps health care within reach for millions is unacceptable.”

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.

Yesterday, 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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