WITH ENROLLMENT NOW OPEN, GILLIBRAND DEMANDS EXTENSION OF HEALTH INSURANCE TAX CREDITS THAT HELP SMALL BUSINESSES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES AFFORD CARE

The following information was released by New York Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand:

4.4 Million People Employed By Small Businesses Rely On Affordable Care Act (ACA) Tax Credits To Afford Care

Following The Start Of Open Enrollment On November 1, Small Business Owners and Their Employees Are Now Shopping for Health Care Plans That Are Over Twice As Expensive on Average

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) held a virtual press conference to demand an end to the government shutdown and an extension of the tax credits that help small businesses, their employees, and self-employed individuals afford health care.

"We are now in the longest government shutdown in history, and Republicans are still playing politics instead of working with Democrats to prevent massive health care cost spikes," said Senator Gillibrand. "Small businesses are already struggling with rising costs in President Trump's America. If enhanced ACA tax credits expire, the 4.4 million small business workers and self-employed Americans who rely on them to make ends meet will be forced to either pay sky-high health insurance premiums or lose their coverage. This is a devastating ultimatum with potentially life-threatening consequencesand it's one that our small business workforce shouldn't have to consider. That's why I'm continuing to demand that my Republican colleagues work with Democrats to extend enhanced ACA tax credits to lower costs for small business owners, employees, and self-employed New Yorkers and reopen the government."

Without an extension, ACA enhanced premium tax credits will expire at the end of 2025, causing over 20 million Americansincluding 4.4 million small business owners and self-employed individualsto see a drastic increase in health insurance costs.

The expiration of these enhanced tax credits will have a particularly devastating impact on small business employees and self-employed individuals, who do not have access to traditional employer-based coverage. This is forcing these individuals to make a devastating choice: either go without insurance or pay for premiums that they cannot afford. In New York State, there are a projected 66,000 small business owners and 34,800 self-employed enrollees who receive coverage through the ACA Marketplace.

Gillibrand emphasized the need to extend ACA subsidies permanently and immediately, as the open enrollment period for the health insurance marketplace began on November 1st. She urged her Republican colleagues to come to the negotiating table to help Democrats reach a bipartisan agreement to lower health care costs and reopen the government.