Cassidy says ‘I don’t care who gets the credit’ on ACA subsidies extension
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) called on Congress to pass legislation addressing expiring subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), regardless of who gets the credit.
“Good policy is good politics,” Cassidy told host Chris Stirewalt on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.” “Let’s not have a Republican plan or a Democratic plan, let’s have an American plan. If we address it, I don’t care who gets the credit.”
Cassidy, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, co-sponsored legislation that would redirect money from the tax credits into health savings accounts (HSA) paired with bronze or catastrophic plans on the ACA marketplace.
The measure failed in the upper chamber earlier this week, as did a Democratic-backed proposal to extend the subsidies for three years. The enhanced credits, first passed during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, expire at the end of this month.
Cassidy reiterated his support for the HSA provision on Sunday, while also noting the possibility of an “accommodation” on the expiring subsidies.
“Maybe we can still strike a deal. That’s what I’m pushing for, that’s what I’m hoping for [and] I think we can,” he noted.
If the credits expire, premiums will increase by an estimated 4.3 percent in 2026, 7.7 percent in 2027 and an average of 7.9 percent from next year until 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO also projects that without a permanent extension of the credits, the number of uninsured people will increase by an average of 3.8 million from 2026-34.
Cassidy expressed optimism Sunday that a compromise can be made before the end of the year. The Louisiana Republican, a medical doctor, said that his goal is to “find common ground” with his Democratic colleagues in the Senate and address rising out-of-pocket and premium costs.
“Let’s just take care of the affordability issue for the enrollee in [the ACA], and do it for the out-of-pocket as well as the premium,” Cassidy added.
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