Health care access in this country is in grave danger—and your wallet could be, too.
At issue are the 24 million Americans who benefit from the soon-to-expire tax credits that help them afford their health coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Around 2 million of these live in California. When Republicans passed their tax cuts for billionaires and corporations in this summer’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, they intentionally left out renewing this credit that helps regular people afford health care.
As a result, according to KFF Health (an independent source for health policy research), not only could the 24 million ACA users see a doubling of their premium costs, but most Americans could see their premiums rise if this tax credit isn’t renewed.
Coupled with the more than $1 trillion that the GOP bill gutted from Medicaid in order to fund those massive tax giveaways to billionaires, Americans are about to experience significant reductions in their access to health coverage, long-term care, nursing home care and hospital care, especially in rural areas.
This is what’s at stake with the current government shutdown on Capitol Hill.
The Republican majority is trying to pass a stop-gap spending measure that sustains President Donald Trump’s mass firings of public servants, maintains his freeze on nearly half a trillion dollars meant for our communities and keeps their cuts to everything from education to health care, food assistance, student loans and even cancer research. Some lawmakers want to stop this calamity from happening.
The Democrats have a counterproposal to fund the government that restores this health care funding, keeps costs under control for families already grappling with high costs of living and prohibits illegally freezing appropriated funds. But with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, the Democrats’ proposal hasn’t been able to pass.
Nearly 80% of Americans—including most Trump supporters—want lawmakers to restore those expiring ACA credits. The sooner we do, the sooner the government can reopen and our families can receive the care and services we need.
Karen Dolan directs the Criminalization of Race and Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.
