EDITORIAL: Congress has no time to waste on extending health insurance subsidies

Nov. 28—The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.

Americans who want to change their health insurance plans or buy a new plan have only a few more weeks to do so. For those Americans who buy their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, their decision will most likely be fraught with uncertainty.

That's because Congress has made little progress on a plan to extend tax credits that have, for years, made health insurance more affordable through the ACA. Without those credits, 55,000 Mainers will see their health insurance premiums rise significantly — in some cases doubling or even tripling. The impact will be most severe in rural areas.

Every member of Maine's congressional delegation has advocated for an extension of the credits, but they aren't finding much support from their Republican colleagues in Congress.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, made discussion of an extension a cornerstone of a plan she crafted to end the government shutdown that ran for about six weeks. Sen. Angus King, an independent, joined with seven Democrats to vote in favor of a multi-part plan to end the shutdown that includes a commitment for a vote on extending the ACA subsidies next month. He was roundly criticized by many Mainers for voting to end the shutdown without a guaranteed extension of the ACA tax credits, but he felt the shutdown was hurting too many people with little hope of convincing Republicans to act on the ACA credits.

"To me the implications are how many families are still going to be assured that they can afford health insurance. That's the most important question for us to ask," Collins said when asked about the subsidies by the BDN in Aroostook County earlier this week.

Ensuring families can afford health insurance is the most important question — and task — for members of Congress.

Without subsidies, too many people won't be able to afford health insurance and will go without, which puts their health in danger, and costs them and taxpayers more in the long run.

There are several vehicles already available for extending the credits. They include a bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Jared Golden of Maine's 2nd District, that would extend them for a year. Another bill, co-sponsored by King, would permanently extend the credits.

Collins is part of a group discussing other ways to extend the subsidies, at least temporarily. Collins also favors capping the subsidies based on income, which makes sense.

Even President Donald Trump has said he supports "some kind of extension," recognizing that quick action "may be necessary."

Unfortunately, some Republicans lawmakers have already said that they want to tie a vote on extending the ACA subsidies to further nationwide restrictions on reproductive health services. It is unfortunate that these Republicans are apparently OK denying health care to millions of Americans in order to push an unpopular agenda to restrict access to reproductive health care. These are two separate issues and should remain so.

Americans need to know how much their health insurance is going to cost next year. They need to know now so they can make decisions about their coverage before the open enrollment period ends.

This is not a time to play politics. This is a time for Congress to act to keep health care affordable and accessible for millions of Americans.

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