Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Request Report Detailing Looming Health Insurance Impacts Following Unprecedented Republican-Led Cuts to Medicaid, Premium Tax Credits
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said today he is leading Senate colleagues, including Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., in requesting a detailed analysis of how Republican-led cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act will affect Americans’ health insurance plans.
“We are deeply concerned about the impacts of actions that Trump and Republicans have taken, including finalizing rules that will ensnare Americans in needless red tape, diminish benefits, increase copayments, and stand up verification hurdles in their reconciliation bill, all while refusing to extend tax credits that lower families’ premiums,” the lawmakers wrote to Sabrina Corlette, Co-Director for the Georgetown Center on Health Insurance Reforms.
In the letter, Wyden, Merkley and colleagues asked for answers to a series of questions about how Americans should prepare for the changes indicated by health insurer rate filings in the wake of Republican actions to make unprecedented cuts to health care coverage.
“While Republicans in the House and Senate chose to extend nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts to benefit the ultra-wealthy and big corporations, they did not extend enhanced premium tax credits that almost 20 million middle-class and working Americans rely on. [...] Failure to extend these tax credits will cause premiums to skyrocket by 75% on average, meaning Americans could be saddled with rising health care costs beginning January 1, 2026,” the lawmakers continued.
“Health insurers have submitted public rate filings that often include double-digit increases, demonstrating that the combination of these policy choices contribute to insurer uncertainty. What this data does not directly address is how insurer action will translate to health plan costs and insurance plan availability for the 24 million working Americans who buy their insurance through the ACA Marketplaces, including nearly 3 million small business owners, almost 5 million near retirees (ages 50+), and over one million children. To help us better understand how the rate filings will impact choice and affordability, we are interested in the Center on Health Insurance Reforms’ analysis of how policymakers and Americans should prepare for the changes indicated by rate filings,” the lawmakers concluded.
Along with Wyden, the letter was led by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senators Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Mark Warner, D-Va. In addition to Merkley, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Angus King, I-Maine, Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash.
The full text of the letter is here.
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