Gov. Evers Joins Coalition of Governors Urging Congress to Keep Healthcare Affordable by Extending ACA’s Enhanced Premium Tax Credits

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, alongside a coalition of 17 other governors, sent a joint letter to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging Congress to extend the enhanced premium tax credits provided by the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—credits that are set to expire by the end of the year if Congress does not act. According to the Center for American Progress, relative to original premium tax credits, the ACA’s enhanced tax credits lowered marketplace premiums by an average of 44 percent for millions of low- and middle-income Americans in 2024.

Thanks to the efforts of the Biden-Harris Administration, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin), and U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin), healthcare coverage has been more affordable than ever. Premium subsidies extended by the Biden-Harris Administration have helped 88 percent of Wisconsin consumers afford their health insurance premiums. Bolstered by the American Rescue Plan Act and extended by the Inflation Reduction Act, in 2023, the majority of Wisconsinites who enrolled in health insurance on HealthCare.gov qualified for cost savings, with the average person saving $573.11 on their monthly insurance premiums.

The letter from governors comes as working families across the state and country are already struggling to make ends meet and as President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill, which was supported and passed by Republicans in Congress, including every Republican member of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, reduces or eliminates several federal initiatives that help keep healthcare affordable and accessible to all, including making significant changes to Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, all told, 276,175 Wisconsinites will lose healthcare coverage under both the ACA and Medicaid under this new law over the next decade.

“I’ve always believed healthcare should not be a privilege afforded only to the healthy and the wealthy. Wisconsinites should be able to get the healthcare they need when they need it,” said Gov. Evers. “Far too many are feeling the pressure of rising costs, and folks should never have to choose between life-saving healthcare and getting their prescriptions or putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their head. Now more than ever, we should be working to make healthcare more affordable and more accessible—not making it more expensive and harder for folks to get the care they need. I’m proud to join my colleagues in urging Congress to extend these tax credits so we can keep doing what’s best for kids, families, and communities in Wisconsin and across our country.”

Gov. Evers has long been committed to ensuring every Wisconsinite has access to quality, affordable healthcare. In 2019, the governor delivered on his promise to withdraw the state of Wisconsin from a Republican-led lawsuit that would have gutted the ACA, kicked thousands of Wisconsinites off their healthcare, and put 2.4 million Wisconsinites who have a pre-existing condition at risk. Gov. Evers also launched the DHS OCI Health Care Coverage Partnership in 2019 to improve coordination around outreach and education, increase enrollment and health insurance literacy, and improve enrollment retention. In 2020, this partnership launched WisCovered.com as an accessible resource for consumers looking for information about health coverage.

Since it was signed into law by former President Barack Obama in 2010, the ACA has been transformational for folks and families across the state and country, providing healthcare coverage to millions of Wisconsin families and ensuring folks can access health insurance without lifetime limits and protecting the coverage of more than 100 million Americans—including 2.4 million Wisconsinites—who have pre-existing conditions thanks to a provision authored by Sen. Baldwin. Earlier this year, Gov. Evers announced that, according to enrollment data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, more than 313,000 Wisconsinites signed up for health insurance on the individual marketplace through the ACA during the 2025 Open Enrollment Period, marking the highest enrollment Wisconsin has ever reached.

The successful Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan (WIHSP) has also held down rates on the individual marketplace. WIHSP was created by 2017 Wisconsin Act 138, a bipartisan bill signed into law in 2018 and implemented under Gov. Evers. WIHSP has helped keep health insurance rates low while increasing choices for consumers every year it has been in operation. Thanks to support from Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin State Legislature, WIHSP has been fully funded in each of the last three state biennial budgets. This program was most recently extended through Dec. 31, 2028.

In 2022, health insurance rates were 14.5 percent lower, and in 2023, rates were 13.7 percent lower than they would have been without WIHSP. Rates on HealthCare.gov would have increased by 19.5 percent for the 2025 plan year, based on a weighted average. Thanks to WIHSP, rates on the individual health insurance market in Wisconsin will instead increase by a weighted average of 8.2 percent for the 2025 plan year.

A copy of the governors’ letter to U.S. congressional leadership is available here, and a transcript of the letter is available below:

Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Leader Thune, and Leader Schumer,

We urge you to extend the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits. For millions of hard-working Americans, these subsidies are the only reason health insurance is still within reach in a country where the cost of living keeps going up.

If they expire, premiums will rise by thousands of dollars for many families, millions will lose coverage, and people will be forced to make impossible choices between paying for healthcare, rent, or groceries. Hard-working American families, older Americans not yet on Medicare, small business owners, and rural communities—where marketplace coverage is often the only option—will be hit the hardest.

The timing couldn’t be more urgent. Insurers are already setting 2026 rates. If Congress acts quickly, states can lock in lower premiums and spare families a wave of sticker shock this fall. If not, the damage will be felt for years.

This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s about protecting working people who are doing everything right but still struggling to get by. Extending these tax credits is one of the simplest, most effective steps Congress can take to keep healthcare affordable and provide real stability for millions of families.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ON EVERS ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORTS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE IN THE 2025-27 BUDGET

In addition to fighting efforts by the Trump Administration to cut healthcare coverage, the Evers Administration has been committed to expanding access to affordable, high-quality healthcare statewide.

Gov. Evers believes healthcare should not be a privilege afforded only to the healthy and the wealthy. No one should ever have to choose between life-saving medication and care or putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their head. Wisconsinites should be able to get the healthcare they need when and where they need it, and without breaking the bank.

The final 2025-27 Biennial Budget, which was signed into law by Gov. Evers just a day before President Trump’s budget reconciliation bill was signed into law, secured an additional $1.1 billion to support healthcare access across Wisconsin, especially in rural communities, that would have been jeopardized had the President’s bill been enacted first. In addition to securing the additional $1.1 billion, the 2025-27 Biennial Budget signed into law by Gov. Evers makes historic investments to support Wisconsin’s healthcare industry and ensure Wisconsinites have access to quality, affordable healthcare—especially in rural areas—with new efforts to bolster health systems across the state, including:

• Continuing funding for BadgerCare;
• Over $53 million to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for personal care, obstetrics, private duty nursing, residential opioid treatment, and home health services, and more;
• Fully funding the minimum fee schedule implemented by the Department of Health Services last biennium to help long-term care facilities avoid staffing cuts and closures;
• $1.5 million in increased funding over the biennium for free and charitable clinics;
• $7 million to support crisis intervention through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline;
• $2 million to support the WisCaregiver Career Program to help address the state’s shortage of certified nursing assistants and direct care professionals; and
• $3.8 million to support Aging and Disability Resource Centers across the state, among many other critical provisions.

Gov. Evers also exercised his broad, constitutional veto authority to partially veto aspects of the budget that were outside of the bipartisan budget negotiations. More information about the bipartisan budget signed by Gov. Evers 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.