The largest political football of the last few months are the federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also known as Obamacare. The federal funds were the chokepoint that promulgated the longest federal government shutdown in history in the autumn.
Congressman Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) voted last week to extend the subsidies to the Senate under the deadline. LaLota, along with sixteen other House Republicans, joined all 213 Democrats to extend the subsidies.
H.R. 1834 provides a “clean, three-year extension of ACA premium tax credits, with no additional reforms or changes to the program,” according to the press release from the Congressman’s office.
“While the ACA is deeply flawed, I voted to extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits for three years to help the nearly 50,000 constituents who rely on them and to give momentum to a bipartisan group of Senators working toward a better solution—one that preserves targeted relief, reinstates income caps, and finally cracks down on waste, fraud, and abuse in the program,” said LaLota in a statement.
The tax credits were first implemented in 2014 to “help individuals and families without employer-sponsored insurance afford coverage purchased through the ACA marketplaces,” according to the release. The credits are designed to lower monthly upfront premiums and are calculated based on the consumer’s household income and cost of coverage in their local market.
Congress temporarily enhanced the premium tax credits under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those subsidies were further extended under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). These changes “increased the size of subsidies for lower- and middle-income enrollees, eliminated the 400% federal poverty level (FPL) cliff, and capped the amount any household would pay for benchmark coverage at roughly 8.5% of income, regardless of earnings.”
Those credits expired at the end of 2025, with LaLota arguing in the statement, “allowing them to lapse does not address flaws of the ACA system, nor does it reduce healthcare costs in a sustainable way. Instead, it triggers a return of the 400% FPL cliff, causing abrupt spikes in healthcare premium for millions of Americans. These patient populations already shoulder some of the highest insurance costs in the country.”
LaLota continued by saying, “make no mistake, this subsidy structure is inefficient and costly,” adding that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates a permanent extension of the premium tax credit structure would add $350 billion to the deficit over the next decade alone.
“Reforms are needed, and several bipartisan proposals have been introduced seeking them. However, the fact remains that the expiration of these credits amounts to a sudden tax hike for hard-working Americans,” said LaLota. “In high-cost regions like Long Island, where incomes often exceed outdated eligibility thresholds, but premiums remain unaffordable, inaction would force many families to pay far more for their coverage or lose it altogether. A three-year clean extension prevents immediate harm to families, while giving Congress time to pursue serious, cost-reducing reforms that put patients, not insurers, first.”
The bill passed the House 230-196. Five Republicans did not vote. LaLota was joined by fellow Long Islander Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), as well as several moderate Republicans and those in competitive swing districts.
The bill now heads to the Senate for deliberation.
