Press Releases

Today, New Democrat Coalition Chair Suzan DelBene (WA-01) sent a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to extend the successful enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies from the American Rescue Plan.

If Congress does not extend the ACA subsidies, millions of Americans could lose health care coverage or see their health care costs spike. During a time of rising prices and an ongoing pandemic, Americans cannot afford a price hike on their health care.

Nearly 60,000 Washingtonians gained coverage because of the ACA subsidies, leading to record high enrollment in 2022. 73% of Washington Health Benefit Exchange customers now receive some form of monthly savings on their health plan because of the enhanced subsidies. 42% now pay less than $100 per month for their 2022 coverage and 46,000 pay less than $10 per month.

“The enhanced ACA subsidies that New Dems secured in the American Rescue Plan have lowered health care costs and expanded access to coverage for millions of Americans,” said DelBene. “Today, our members are leading the effort to extend the enhanced ACA subsidies as soon as possible because we know how important it is to keep health care costs low especially during this period of global inflation. We must act now to protect Americans’ health care and keep costs low.”

“As a result of the enhanced federal subsidies, nearly 60,000 Washingtonians gained coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder. This is a significant step in reducing the uninsured in Washington,” said interim Washington Health Benefit Exchange CEO Jim Crawford. “Without congressional action this summer to extend the subsidies, customers will start receiving letters this fall outlining large premium increases for 2023. Our fear is that would result in significant coverage losses.”

This effort follows the release of the Coalition’s Action Plan to Fight Inflation, a comprehensive policy roadmap to lower the cost of living for Americans that Forbes called “the best inflation plan yet.” The Coalition’s plan called for enacting a budget reconciliation bill that lowers health care costs by extending the ACA subsidies and closing the Medicaid coverage gap.

The letter can be found here.