Baldwin Leads Bill to Cut Health Care Costs, Permanently Extend Affordable Care Act Tax Breaks for Working Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced their Health Care Affordability Act—legislation to make permanent the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) for Marketplace coverage, which would prevent millions of Americans’ health care costs from increasing next year. In Wisconsin, 231,000 Wisconsinites – over 85% of ACA Marketplace enrollees – saved $573 each month on average with these enhanced tax credits in 2024. If these tax credits expire at the end of 2025, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites will face significantly higher premium costs, with an estimated 30,000 Wisconsinites losing health insurance.

“Every Wisconsinite should be able to get the health care they need. Period. Our Affordable Care Act put health care within reach for millions of Americans who could for the first time afford and access the comprehensive care they need to stay healthy, but there’s more work to do,” said Senator Baldwin. “I’m looking at every way we can further lower costs and expand access to good health care for families – and that starts with not jacking up costs on Wisconsinites. If we don’t make these tax breaks permanent, thousands of working families will see their health care bills skyrocket, potentially leaving some without the lifesaving care they need.”

Nationally, an average enrollee saved an estimated $700 in 2024 because of the PTC enhancements, with average monthly premiums over 32 percent lower than in 2021, before the enhancements took effect. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), if the PTCs are allowed to expire at the end of this year, health care premiums would increase by 7.9 percent and 3.8 million Americans would lose their health insurance altogether.

Last week, the Biden Administration announced that with a week left to go in the 2025 enrollment period, nearly 24 million consumers – including a record-breaking 306,470 Wisconsinites – have signed up for ACA Marketplace coverage. This year’s open enrollment period ends on January 15, 2025.

The Health Care Affordability Act would make permanent the ACA PTCs for Health Insurance Marketplace coverage as passed in the American Rescue Plan Act and extended through the Inflation Reduction Act, both of which Senator Baldwin supported. Those enhanced tax credits increase the value of the tax credits available to people with income between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) while expanding eligibility for premium tax credits to include individuals with income above 400 percent of FPL.

An online version of this release is available here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.