Kiggans leads effort to extend ACA tax credits Kiggans leads bipartisan effort to temporarily extend ACA tax credits

HEALTH CARE

NORFOLK - U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans announced Thursday a bipartisan health care proposal meant to prevent health insurance premiums from skyrocketing by extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits set to expire at the end of the year.

Thirty-five House members have signed onto the bipartisan effort, which comes as both Democratic and Republican leaders are working on plans of their own.

Kiggans, a Republican whose district encompasses much of Hampton Roads, led the proposal alongside Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey. The plan includes a year-extension of the enhanced premium tax credits (ePTCs) for enrollees earning less than 600% of the federal poverty level and would extend open enrollment period through March 19. The tax credits make health care affordable for people who purchase their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

"We got like-minded colleagues together the week after we came back to regular order up in Washington (after the shutdown)," Kiggans said in an interview Thursday evening. "We're going to talk about health care and find if there's places that we agree, places we can comprise, and we're going to put together a plan, because we were frustrated that we hadn't been presented a plan, not from the Senate, not from House leadership."

Kiggans and Gottheimer also sent a letter to congressional leadership urging them to take up the framework.

"It includes one year of enhanced Premium Tax Credits (ePTCs), with targeted modifications, and a second year of continued health insurance premium savings for American families," the letter read. "We urge you to consider it and to vote in both chambers on legislation reducing the cost of health insurance by December 18, 2025. For millions of Americans, as they have learned in notices during the current open enrollment period, their health insurance premiums are set to significantly increase in January 2026."

A bipartisan group of 33 other House members also signed on to the letter.

"This is what a group of 15 Republicans and 20 Democrats can agree on when it comes to health care reform," said Kiggans, who represents Virginia's 2nd House District.

But it's unclear how much support the proposal will get from Republicans, who hold control in both the House and Senate. The Hill reported Thursday that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the bipartisan framework proposed was not part of a package House Republicans were discussing. Kiggans did not say that it was her understanding the framework had been quashed, but said she had met with the majority leader.

"I met with Steve Scalise individually today too, to make sure he understood this framework that we had good bipartisan support for," she said. "I think it would be more successful if we could pass it with bipartisan support. A lot of times, we're focused on how many Republican votes can we get, but with this health care issue, I think it's going to be more of a winning compromise if we can come up with a good bipartisan plan, which is what this is."

Kiggans said there should be significant reform to the Affordable Care Act and would consider measures like Sen. Bill Cassidy's Health Savings Account proposal - after the tax credits are extended.

"What I can't have happen is at the end of the year, everyone who is on Obamacare's health insurance premiums go up by thousands of dollars," she said. "We have 40,000 people in the 2nd District who are on Obamacare, including some nurses I worked with."

Kiggans and Gottheimer's plan calls for a phase out of those tax credits, beginning with people who make 600% to 1,000% of the federal poverty level.

"Those enhanced premium tax credits are COVID-era tax credits," Kiggans said. "That's a really important piece. We had a lot of different tax credits, different incentives that were started during COVID for a lot of reasons. But everything's been phased out but these. It's time to phase out the COVID-era tax credit, but to do it automatically at the end of the year, when we don't have other proposals in place, is not the right thing to do for patients."