ACA premium tax credits set to expire next month

The deadline to extend healthcare premium tax credits is coming up, and millions of Americans are poised to see sharp increases in health insurance premiums.

Or they could lose coverage altogether. 

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin warned of skyrocketing health care costs at the Bridge Community Health Clinic in Wausau on Friday. 

“For 275,000 Wisconsinites, their health care costs will double, triple, or even worse. And for 30,000 Wisconsinites, the price will be so high that they’ll choose to go without health insurance,” she said.

Premium tax credits through the Affordable Care Act help low and middle-income families pay for their health insurance. 

Without action from Congress, they’re set to expire at the end of December.

“What happens when many millions of Americans go uninsured? They forego preventative treatment, early intervention,” she said. “And then when something’s so bad, they go to the ER or the urgent care clinic, and it costs so much in those settings. And it’s uncompensated. Or somebody goes bankrupt just because of their medical bills.”

Baldwin joined most Democratic senators in pushing to extend the credits.

 She said she’s working across the aisle to get votes to extend the premium tax credit program.

“I talk to my Republican colleagues all the time, and I’m talking specifically to those who I think are inclined to want to do this, because they’ve heard from their constituents who are saying the same thing.,” Baldwin said. “And I know many of them who whisper to me or say in private settings that we really should do something.”

Congress is expected to vote on legislation aimed at extending the tax credit program through 2027 on Dec. 15, which is also the deadline to pick a healthcare plan for 2026.

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