Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

WASHINGTON – Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced the Keep Healthcare Affordable Act which would extend enhanced Affordable Care Act Premium Tax Credits for four years, through the end of 2029. 

“Americans are suffering from an affordability crisis, and millions are on the cusp of that worsening with their health insurance costs set to spike in 2026,” said Schneider. “Congress has the responsibility to act and ensure every American has access to quality, affordable healthcare from providers they know and trust, when and where they need it. The Keep Healthcare Affordable Act is a common sense, responsible solution to the approaching healthcare affordability crisis.” 

In 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act, which expanded ACA premium tax credits and lowered the cost of healthcare for millions of Americans, ensuring no one paid more than 8.5% of their income for health insurance. Approximately 24 million Americans, including roughly 400,000 people in Illinois, benefit from these tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of 2025. Expiration of the tax credits will result in an average increase of 114% in premiums. 

The Keep Healthcare Affordable Act will extend the enhanced ACA tax credits for individuals who purchase their health insurance through the ACA marketplace and earn less than 10 times the federal poverty level, approximately $155,000 for a one-person household or $320,000 for a four-person household in 2025. 

“If Congress fails to act, millions of hardworking Americans will pay premiums that are double, even triple their current costs. In many cases, premiums will exceed what people can afford, leaving them without healthcare coverage altogether,” said Schneider. “Allowing either of those options to happen is a dereliction of duty. I urge Speaker Johnson and my Republican colleagues in the House to return to Washington, engage with Democrats, and have a good faith negotiation on solutions like this legislation that will protect Americans from this manufactured affordability crisis.”

Bill text is available here.

###

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) introduced the Right to Enroll Act. This legislation would extend the 2026 open enrollment period through May 1, 2026. Extending the enrollment period would provide individuals and families more time to assess Marketplace prices and make an informed decision about health insurance coverage, as Pappas continues fighting to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits.

“While I continue pushing for the extension of the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits that make health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans, we have to face the reality that open enrollment has begun and individuals are seeing their premiums double or even triple. We have to take action now to give people the time and flexibility they need to choose their coverage amidst confusion caused by Republican inaction,” said Congressman Pappas. “Open enrollment must be extended. I’ve called on President Trump to take this simple step administratively, but if he won’t act then Congress must.”

This legislation has 13 original cosponsors, including Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (NH-02). Earlier this week, Pappas called for the Trump administration to extend the ACA open enrollment period to May 1.

This legislation is endorsed by Protect Our Care, Third Way, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

“While congressional Republicans skip work and dole out tax breaks for billionaires, millions of Americans are making heart-wrenching decisions because the GOP more than doubled their premiums for next year,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress must heed the pleas of the vast majority of Americans who believe working families shouldn’t have to drain their savings just to see a doctor. Republicans need to end their refusal to pass legislation to make ACA credits permanent. Until then, the very least Congress can do is pass Rep. Pappas’s common sense Right to Enroll Act to give families more time to make life-or-death decisions about their health care.”

“The Right to Enroll Act is a commonsense, pro-family solution, and we applaud Congressman Chris Pappas for his introduction of this bill. With open enrollment in full swing, this is a practical fix to help Americans keep and choose the coverage that works best for them. As premiums rise due to Republican inaction, we thank Congressman Pappas for giving families more time to evaluate their options and adjust,” said Darbin Wofford, Deputy Director of Health Care at Third Way.

Background:

Pappas supports legislation that would prevent extreme increases in health care premiums next year by extending the enhanced premium tax credits that keep health insurance affordable for Granite Staters and small businesses. Pappas also joined a letter to Speaker Johnson highlighting the major impacts on small businesses if the enhanced premium tax credits are not reinstated, urging the Speaker to end the shutdown by passing legislation to extend the enhanced premium tax credits immediately.

Pappas held a roundtable with leadership from Lamprey Health Care about the burden of these increased costs, during which they shared stories about the impact the lapse will have on their patients, as well as the news that the health center’s annual premium to cover their staff is also expected to increase by 40% next year. Small businesses across New Hampshire are bearing these costs, including a manufacturer Pappas visited that expects to see a 38% increase in its health insurance costs next year due to the lapse of the tax credits.

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) led 61 members in calling on the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy to extend the 2026 open enrollment period through May 1, 2026. Extending the enrollment period would provide individuals more time to assess Marketplace prices and make an informed decision about health insurance coverage as Pappas continues to fight to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits in Congress. Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (NH–02) is a signer of the letter.

“Despite the sustained efforts of congressional Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits prior to open enrollment starting, Congress has ultimately failed to do so. As a result, open enrollment has begun with sticker shock as enrollees are confronted with eye-popping premium increases,” wrote the lawmakers. “While we remain optimistic that Republicans will join Democrats to lower costs for consumers, in the meantime, we urge you to extend the 2026 open enrollment period through May 1, 2026.”

Stressing the importance of Congress extending ACA enhanced premium tax credits, the members wrote, “The enhanced premium tax credits have helped make health care more affordable and have driven record-breaking enrollment gains in the marketplace. Without an extension, the 22 million Americans who rely on the tax credits to afford coverage will see their costs rise by $1,000 on average—but many are seeing even higher increases. Individuals have already begun to see significant premium hikes in certain marketplaces, where some are learning that their costs will double or even triple.  As a result, younger, healthier, and lower-income people will likely drop coverage entirely due to unaffordable premiums, harming the risk pool and driving costs even higher.”

“Our constituents are now confronted with the difficult decision of whether they will be able to afford their health insurance…” wrote the lawmakers. Highlighting how the expiration of the ACA’s premium tax credits will make this year’s open enrollment season more challenging for families, they continued, “If and when Republicans agree to negotiate, an extended open enrollment period will allow individuals and families, who otherwise would not have been able to afford it, to acquire coverage. You have the authority to give people the time they need to make informed decisions about their coverage during this period of uncertainty.”

Read the full letter here and below. 

Dear Secretary Kennedy,

Despite the sustained efforts of congressional Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits prior to open enrollment starting, Congress has ultimately failed to do so. As a result, open enrollment has begun with sticker shock as enrollees are confronted with eye-popping premium increases. While we remain optimistic that Republicans will join Democrats to lower costs for consumers, in the meantime, we urge you to extend the 2026 open enrollment period through May 1, 2026. 

The enhanced premium tax credits have helped make health care more affordable and have driven record-breaking enrollment gains in the marketplace.  Without an extension, the 22 million Americans who rely on the tax credits to afford coverage are seeing their costs rise by $1,000 on average—but many are seeing even higher increases.  Individuals have begun to see significant premium hikes across marketplaces, where some are learning that their costs will double or even triple.  As a result, younger, healthier, and lower-income people will likely drop coverage entirely due to unaffordable premiums, harming the risk pool and driving costs even higher. 

Our constituents are now confronted with the difficult decision of whether they will be able to afford their health insurance. While we continue to fight to keep health care affordable, we must provide Americans with additional time and flexibility to account for confusion caused by Republican inaction. Because almost 80% of all premium tax credits went to enrollees in states that President Trump won in 2024, we are hopeful that a deal to extend the premium tax credits will be reached before the end of the year.  If and when Republicans agree to negotiate, an extended open enrollment period will allow individuals and families, who otherwise would not have been able to afford it, to acquire coverage. You have the authority to give people the time they need to make informed decisions about their coverage during this period of uncertainty.

Failure to extend the enhanced ACA premium tax credits is raising premiums across the board for all enrollees, which will increase the number of uninsured individuals, and put additional strain on an already overburdened emergency care system as people are forced to forgo preventative care. Americans across the country cannot afford another blow to the health care system already reeling from cuts included in the “Big Ugly Bill.”    

While we continue to negotiate, we urge you to take this commonsense action to make things easier on the American people by extending open enrollment through May 1, 2026, and ask that you take all necessary steps to promote enrollment and protect coverage for eligible individuals and their families. Allowing individuals more time to make decisions about their 2026 coverage is an extremely simple step that we strongly urge you to take to prevent health insurance coverage from becoming even further out of reach for our constituents.

Sincerely,

Background:

Leadership from Lamprey Health Care spoke about the burden of these increased costs with Pappas last month during a roundtable, where they shared that they have been notified by their health insurance provider that their annual premium is expected to increase by 40% next year. Pappas also visited a New Hampshire manufacturer expected to see a 38% increase in its health insurance costs next year as a result of political inaction in Congress. 

Pappas supports legislation that would prevent extreme increases in health care premiums next year by extending the enhanced premium tax credits that keep health insurance affordable for Granite Staters and small businesses. Pappas joined a letter to Speaker Johnson highlighting the major impacts that small businesses will face if the enhanced premium tax credits expire, and urging the Speaker to end the shutdown by passing legislation to extend the enhanced premium tax credits immediately. 

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) joined Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) and 107 House Democrats in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson calling out the upcoming harm small businesses will face should the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits expire. 

The lawmakers noted that small business owners, their employees, and self-employed Americans are disproportionately represented in the ACA marketplace. Although they make up only 16 percent of the workforce under the age of 65, they account for nearly half of marketplace enrollees. Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, 82 percent of small business owners and self-employed individuals rely on the enhanced premium tax credits to afford their ACA Marketplace coverage.

“If the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits are not immediately extended, families and small businesses will begin to feel the impact as soon as November 1st, when Open Enrollment begins and Marketplace plans reflect steep premium hikes in 2026,” the members wrote. “Premiums are currently projected to increase by about 114% starting in 2026. For many families and small businesses, this is money they do not have.”

In the letter, the members highlighted that allowing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits to expire would force small business owners to make difficult decisions about their healthcare, including paying hundreds more per month, dropping their coverage entirely, or even having to close their business in the face of this financial pressure. 

“By making insurance more expensive for small business owners and employees, Republicans are not only squeezing family budgets – they are stifling American innovation and undermining the economic growth that small businesses drive,” the lawmakers continued. 

The full text of the letter is HERE and below: 

The Honorable Mike Johnson

Speaker

U.S. House of Representatives

H-232, The Capitol

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Speaker Johnson:

We write today to underscore the urgent risks that the pending expiration of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits poses for small businesses, self-employed entrepreneurs, and employees of small businesses. Without immediate action to extend these tax credits, millions of small business households across the country will feel the burden of soaring ACA premiums.

While much of the public discussion focuses on the broader individual ACA Marketplace, the reality is that this market is also powered by small business households. People tied to small businesses – owners, self-employed workers, and employees of firms with fewer than 25 workers – are disproportionately represented in the ACA Marketplace. Although they comprise only about 16 percent of the overall workforce under age 65, they account for nearly half of marketplace enrollees.  In fact, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, 82 percent of small business owners and those who are self-employed rely on the enhanced premium tax credits to afford their ACA Marketplace coverage.

Treasury data also shows that 3.3 million small business owners and self-employed workers had Marketplace coverage in 20223, including nearly 300,000 entrepreneurs who would not have qualified for affordable Marketplace coverage without the enhanced premium tax credits.  Recent projections for 2025 show that over 4.2 million small business owners and almost 2.7 million self-employed workers currently benefit from ACA coverage. These figures represent significant gains in ACA coverage over recent years and highlight the importance of the premium tax credits for small business owners and their employees. 

If the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits are not immediately extended, families and small businesses will begin to feel the impact as soon as November 1st, when Open Enrollment begins and Marketplace plans reflect steep premium hikes in 2026. Premiums are currently projected to increase by about 114% starting in 2026.  For many families and small businesses, this is money they do not have. As a result, projected job losses in non-health care jobs are projected to total over 180,000, with state GDPs declining by $40 billion. 

For the nearly half of Marketplace enrollees tied to small businesses, the fallout will be immediate: they will either pay hundreds more per month, drop their coverage entirely, or be forced to make difficult life decisions about their healthcare. This is all while small businesses continue to contribute to our economy. Between 2013 and 2023, small businesses contributed 55 percent of total jobs created. Republicans claim to stand with small businesses, but their refusal to extend the premium tax credits will halt this progress in job growth and force small businesses to cut jobs or close their businesses altogether as they lose access to affordable healthcare.  By making insurance more expensive for small business owners and employees, Republicans are not only squeezing family budgets – they are stifling American innovation and undermining the economic growth that small businesses drive.

We urge you to work with Democrats to end the shutdown by passing legislation that extends the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits and continues to allow our small business community and self-employed Americans to benefit from affordable ACA Marketplace coverage.

Sincerely,

Background:

Leadership from Lamprey Health Care spoke about the burden of these increased costs with Pappas last month during a roundtable, where they shared that they have been notified by their health insurance provider that their annual premium is expected to increase by 40% next year. Pappas also visited a New Hampshire manufacturer expected to see a 38% increase in its health insurance costs next year as a result of political inaction in Congress. 

Pappas supports legislation that would prevent extreme increases in health care premiums next year by extending the enhanced premium tax credits that keep health insurance affordable for Granite Staters and small businesses.