Washington, D.C. — Today, the Senate failed to pass legislation to address the looming end-of-year expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits for Americans who buy health coverage on the Marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Last Friday, the Conference sent a letter to congressional leaders, urging them to extend the tax credits before they expire.
Following today’s votes, Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ (USCM) Children, Health, and Human Services Committee, released the following statement:
“Americans are being pushed toward a financial crisis that doesn’t need to happen. The stakes are clear, and leaders on both sides of the aisle increasingly agree: Families need relief. Partisan fixes have failed. Now it is time for Congress to unite around a bipartisan extension of these tax credits. Failure to do so will be catastrophic for communities across the country.
“For mayors, this is not an abstract policy debate. We see the consequences play out in real time – in our constituents’ lives, in our local health systems, in safety-net hospitals struggling to stay afloat, and in the economic ripple effect across our cities. As uninsured rates rise, our communities bear the costs of unpaid care. Hardworking American families cannot afford to lose these tax credits, and neither can the communities we serve.”