Congress is expected to vote in the coming days on whether to extend the now-expired Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.
Enhanced subsidies for the ACA expired on December 31st. Whether or not to extend the COVID-era credits was at the center of last fall's government shutdown.
Both Democratic and Republican leadership presented legislation to offset the price of healthcare before Congress left town in December. Both proposals failed.
In December, four House Republicans signed onto a discharge petition with Democrats to force a vote on a bill that would extend the premiums for three years. A vote on that legislation is expected this week.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said he’ll push to pass it in the Senate, too.
“I am determined on this first day of the new year session to begin a determined, insistent, consistent campaign to restore these health care subsidies,” Blumenthal said. “This crisis cannot be denied or neglected or disregarded, and it will certainly be a focus of our Democrats.”
The legislation will likely be changed in the upper chamber.
A single person living in Connecticut and making $68,000 a year will see their rates rise from $324 a month to more than $1,000 a month due to the expired credits, according to Blumenthal.
