KFF: Individual market insurers are requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years; Out-of-pocket premium payments will go up by 75 percent if the tax credits expire
In Washington state, expiration of health care tax credits will kick 80,000 people off health coverage
Senator Murray has been fighting for months to extend tax credits that help working families afford health care and has introduced legislation to make them permanent
***Watch full press conference HERE; download HERE***
Washington, D.C. —Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual press conference with Jeanne Lambrew, Director of Health Care Reform at The Century Foundation and a former senior official in the Obama administration official who worked on the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and Washington Health Benefit Exchange CEO Ingrid Ulrey, to discuss—and sound the alarm on—how Republicans’ refusal to extend critical ACA tax credits that help families and small businesses who purchase their own health insurance on the marketplace will spike premiums and raise health care costs for people in Washington state and across the country.
At the end of this year, enhanced premium tax credits Congress enacted to lower the cost of health care for working people who buy health insurance on their own are set to expire. For months, Republicans have refused to extend them, including recently as part of their partisan reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which was explicitly designed to extend expiring tax credits, and included trillions of dollars in tax breaks for billionaires.
If Republicans continue to refuse to extend the health care tax credits, 22 million Americans across the country—including more than 216,000 people in Washington state—will see their health care costs and premiums skyrocket in January. The expiration of these tax credits is estimated to drive up out-of-pocket premium payments by an average of over 75 percent for Americans who rely on ACA health plans for coverage, and these higher costs will push 4.2 million people off their health coverage over the next decade—including an estimated 80,000 people in Washington state. Right now, health insurers and state regulators are finalizing premium rates for next year, and marketplace insurers are requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years. In Washington state, health insurers have already requested to hike their rates by one fifth—people who purchase health insurance through the marketplace may see their premiums rise between 4.7 percent and 23.6 percent, depending on the plan. A fact sheet from the Washington Health Benefit Exchange on the enhanced premium tax credits and what their expiration would mean for people in Washington state is HERE.
“While the health care tax credits Republicans refused to extend may not expire until the end of the year, insurers are setting their rates right now, and when credits expire—rates go higher. Marketplace insurers are right now requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years. In Washington state, health insurers have already requested to hike their rates by over 20 percent, in no small part because of what Republicans have done—or rather, refused to do,” said Senator Murray. “When premiums spike next year, I am going to make sure everyone knows it’s because Republicans chose to make health care more expensive. Not on accident. Not for reasons unknown. But because Republicans decided to do nothing and let costs skyrocket. Because Republicans decided we can afford to shovel trillions of dollars towards tax breaks for billionaires, but we can’t afford to help working families get health care.”
Senator Murray played a critical role in passing the enhanced premium tax credits in the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, and she has been fighting for months to make sure these important health care tax credits don’t expire, including cosponsoring legislation—the Health Care Affordability Act—that would make them permanent.
“The expiring ACA Marketplace tax credits are critical to keeping meaningful coverage within reach for millions of Americans,” said Jeanne Lambrew, Director of Health Care Reform at The Century Foundation and a former senior official in the Obama administration official who worked on the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “Unless Republicans come to the table to lower costs for families by extending these tax credits, Americans across the country are going to see their premiums skyrocket—especially in rural areas and places where access to health care is already challenging.”
“Enhanced premium tax credits help more than 216,000 Washingtonians afford health coverage and are especially important for older and rural residents, small business owners and self-employed people in our state. If Congress allows them to expire, people will be angry and upset by steep premium increases starting in January 2026. Many will drop coverage and everyone in our state will feel the pain of ripple effects across our health care system and economy,” said Ingrid Ulrey, Chief Executive Officer for Washington Health Benefit Exchange. “These tax credits work. They help make coverage more affordable for working people, families and small businesses all over the state.”
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Thank you all for joining me today. You know, Republicans have been trying to tell some big fat lies about their big, awful bill, especially when it comes to health care.
“So, we are here to set the record straight, and to give America a stark warning. When Republicans lined up behind Trump, and jammed through a bill they hardly liked, and hardly even read—they didn’t just vote to throw trillions of dollars in tax cuts at some of the richest people in the world, they also voted to throw working families to the wolves and throw America’s health care into chaos.
“From cutting Medicaid, something they first said they weren’t doing and now are pretending they want to undo. To shuttering hospitals, something they first said would not happen and then said they could cover with a Band-Aid.
“To approving Trump’s sabotage of the ACA marketplace something that will kick millions of families off their coverage.
“To refusing to extend health care tax credits, something that will send premiums skyrocketing, and push another 4.2 million people off their insurance.
“Let’s be clear about just how big of a deal that is. Right now, these tax credits—passed entirely by Democrats—are saving millions of people across the country hundreds of dollars a month!
“In Washington state, we have over 200,000 people—who are saving around $1,300 a year on average.
“But instead of extending that support for working class families, instead of putting health care first, Republicans put billionaires first.
“And now families are going to be the one stuck footing the cost for Republicans’ big, ugly bill. And unfortunately, the consequences of Republican actions—which they keep trying to deny—are coming sooner than Republicans might think.
“Because, while the health care tax credits they refused to extend may not expire until the end of this year, insurers are setting their rates right now, and when credits expire—rates go higher.
“Marketplace insurers are right now requesting the largest premium increases in more than 5 years.
“In Washington state, health insurers have already requested to hike their rates by over 20 percent, in no small part because of what Republicans have done—or rather, refused to do.
“Combined with Republican ACA sabotage? That could push as many as 150,000 people off their health care coverage across our state. To say nothing of the people who will get pushed off Medicaid in 2027 and beyond.
“This is going to be catastrophic—which is why it’s so important we sound the alarm for families about what is coming down the pike.
“And I want to sound the alarm for Republicans too—if you don’t come to the table ASAP to fix this, you are not going to be able to spin your way out of this reality.
“When over 15 million people lose their health care due to Republican health care cuts and sabotage, you are not going to convince them everything is A-Okay.
“When hospitals shutter because Republicans gutted their funding, you can’t just pretend everything is sunshine and nothing is wrong.
“When insurance companies jack up premiums across the country and millions of families lose the health care tax credits that saved them thousands of dollars because Republicans refused to lift a finger, you’re not going to get by, by sticking your heads in the sand.
“You are the ones who put American health care on this collision course. You may try to ignore the warnings, you may try to ignore the voices back home speaking out, but you’re not going to be able to avoid the responsibility.
“When premiums spike next year, I am going to make sure everyone knows it’s because Republicans chose to make health care more expensive.
“Not on accident. Not for reasons unknown. But because Republicans decided to do nothing and let costs skyrocket.
“Because Republicans decided we can afford to shovel trillions of dollars towards tax breaks for billionaires, but we can’t afford to help working families get their health care.
“They couldn’t be more wrong.
“So, I’m really glad to be joined today by two speakers who are experts on the ACA tax credits and they can lay out what their expiration will mean for families in Washington state and across the country.”
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