OPINION: A health care crisis is right around the corner

In two weeks, Ariya will lose her health insurance unless Congress acts.

Ariya lives in Beaverton, and she helps run her local, family Thai restaurant. Right now, she pays $500 every month toward her health care premiums, but in the new year, Ariya's premiums are set to jump from $500 to $800 per month, an increase of $3,600 over one year. And if that happens, she plans to drop her health coverage altogether. Ariya's story is not unique. She is one of 16,000 people in my district who rely on the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credit to afford her health care.

Originally passed in 2021, the ACA's enhanced premium tax credit helps lower the cost of premiums and allow millions of people to afford care they may otherwise have not been able to get. However, these tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year, and if that happens, millions will be forced to choose between shouldering higher costs or going without health care. Without a clear solution on the horizon, we are barreling toward a health care crisis.

So how did we get here, and how do we stop this crisis?

Earlier this year, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress passed their "Big, Ugly Bill," the largest ever cut to Medicaid (also known as the Oregon Health Plan), Medicare and SNAP. In our community, over 27,000 people who rely on the Oregon Health Plan will lose their insurance, pulling more people out of the health insurance coverage pool, further increasing costs.

As if Republicans weren't doing enough to take away health care from families, they also decided not to extend the ACA's enhanced premium tax credits. As a result, people will pay thousands of dollars more every year for their health insurance.

I refuse to simply let this happen.

In the fall, as the deadline to pass a government funding deal inched closer, Democrats had a simple ask, "Stop the cuts. Lower the cost. Save health care." As Democrats, we pushed for a deal that extended the enhanced premium tax credit and stopped families from being forced to choose between paying for health care and paying for groceries. Republicans refused to negotiate on a deal. They packed up, went home and triggered the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Throughout the shutdown, Republicans said they would not negotiate extending the enhanced premium tax credit until the government reopened. It's been over a month since the government reopened, and we're still waiting on Speaker Johnson to negotiate. The Republican-controlled Congress still has a chance to stop this crisis — but only if it acts now.

That's why I've signed on to House Democrats' discharge petition that would force a vote on a clean, three-year extension of the ACA's enhanced premium tax credits. It's a straightforward extension that would keep health care affordable for millions of families like Ariya's. All 214 House Democrats have signed this discharge petition to force Speaker Johnson to bring the three-year extension to the House Floor. And now, enough reasonable Republicans have signed on, too. This bill has enough support to pass the House, but Speaker Johnson would rather send the House home than to allow a vote to save your health care. It's a slap in the face to every American who will face higher health care costs next year.

This should not be controversial. Letting these tax credits expire would raise costs, increase the number of uninsured Americans and destabilize health insurance markets nationwide. Extending them would do the opposite — lower costs, protect coverage and give families certainty.

The deadline is days away. Ariya and millions of other Americans are watching. Republicans must choose between protecting people's health care or letting a preventable crisis unfold.

U.S Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, represents Oregon's 6th Congressional District.