U.S. House of Representatives leadership today announced that there would not be a vote to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, resulting in enhanced advance premium tax credits expiring at the end of 2025. Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, a global force changing the future of health for all, released the following statement:
"With harsh premium increases fast approaching, the American Heart Association is deeply disheartened by Congress' failure to extend the enhanced advance premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. Congressional inaction is a serious setback for the millions who rely on affordable coverage to manage cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.
"The enhanced tax credits have been a lifeline for millions of people and families nationwide. That reality is reflected in the stories American Heart Association Heart Powered advocates have been sharing with their lawmakers about how the enhanced tax credits have helped them, their families and their neighbors. Their experiences mirror what the data show: Since the expansion of the tax credits under the American Rescue Plan Act, uninsured rates reached an all-time low and marketplace enrollment more than doubled in many states, opening the door to lifesaving care.
"Allowing these credits to expire will have immediate and harmful consequences on people's ability to prevent, manage and treat chronic disease. Premiums will sharply rise, and according to estimates, up to 4 million people could lose their insurance. For those living with heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, losing coverage is not a minor disruption — it is an economic burden and direct threat to their health and well-being. Families will face higher costs, may delay treatment and be forced to make impossible choices between health care and basic needs such as healthy food, housing and utilities.
"The impact will be especially severe for people who purchase their own insurance — small business owners, gig workers, farmers, early retirees and those with serious chronic conditions who cannot rely on employer-based coverage.
"Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, claiming 702,880 lives in 2022 — one in every five deaths — and costing an estimated $252.2 billion from 2019 to 2020. At a time when more than 26 million people remain uninsured and nearly a quarter of working-age adults are underinsured, allowing tax credits that make health coverage more affordable to lapse will deepen an already urgent health care crisis.
"With ongoing bipartisan support for an extension, we urge lawmakers to reconsider this decision without delay. Everyone deserves the security of knowing they can afford the care they need when they need it."
