WA Health Benefit Exchange, Dems urge Congress to extend expiring ACA tax credits
As the federal government shutdown enters its third week, the Washington Health Benefit Exchange is urging Congress to act on extending soon-to-expire enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act health insurance.
The Exchange, which operates the Washington Healthplanfinder online marketplace, noted in a news release Oct. 14 that such tax credits assist nearly 217,000 Washingtonians in affording health coverage.
If Congress lets them expire, then rural residents, adults who are self-employed or run small businesses, and older people who aren’t yet Medicare eligible will get hit with the highest premium price hikes, Exchange CEO Ingrid Ulrey said.
These credits are a key sticking point for congressional Democrats amid the shutdown.
Republican lawmakers have pointed out that the enhanced premium tax credits don’t expire until December. However, the minority party is pushing for an extension before the Nov. 1 start of enrollment, and they’re refusing to vote to reopen the government until they get their wish.
Republican Congress members have said the right time for these negotiations is after the government reopens, with some contending that the subsidies are driving waste, fraud and abuse.
But Democrats and advocates contend that the enhanced premium tax credits are needed to ensure that people stay insured, and to prevent strain on the health-care system.
Ulrey said that an estimated 80,000 residents in Washington will face premium hikes so steep that they might drop their insurance entirely.
“This, combined with Medicaid coverage losses resulting from the big budget bill recently passed by Congress, threatens to put enormous pressure on our health care system and result in higher prices for everyone,” Ulrey said in the Oct. 14 release.
Signed into law this summer, H.R. 1, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, made significant cuts to Medicaid, which provides health coverage for low-income people. Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a Sept. 30 Facebook post that some 250,000 Washingtonians will lose Medicaid because of it, in addition to the 80,000 residents who will lose coverage due to expiring tax credits.
Senate Minority Leader John Braun has countered that Washington Democrats’ claims about H.R. 1 are overestimates.
Next year, rates for the state’s health insurance exchange are expected to increase by an average of 21% — close to double last year’s 10.7% uptick, The Tri-City Herald previously reported.
Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer said in a news release last month that state law requires her office to accept rate changes when insurers prove they need one. This year, insurers cited ballooning health-care costs and uncertainty stemming from the federal government, she said.
The office of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray has pointed to projections showing the credits’ expiration would lead to health-care price jumps for 22 million Americans. The Washington Democrat blasted Republicans and Trump over what she called a “health care crisis” of their making.
“Republicans have gutted Medicaid and our hospitals and community health centers are going to be forced to make staffing and service cuts,” she said in an Oct. 13 statement. “And, after forcing a completely avoidable government shutdown, Republicans are still refusing to come to the table to extend critical tax credits to stop health care premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans.”
Ferguson has also previously slammed efforts to limit health-care access by the Trump administration and Republican Congress members as “morally bankrupt.” The Democrat has urged Congress to act to extend the credits.
Washingtonians who use the enhanced premium tax credits save an average of $1,330 per year in premiums, according to a September news release from the governor’s office. If they disappear, in King County, a family of three earning $52,000 annually could soon see a fivefold annual premium increase, from $490 to more than $2,800 per year.
In a Washington Healthplanfinder customer-story report, a couple of Thurston County residents shared what the enhanced premium tax credits have meant to them.
For Regina D., a medical insurance rate increase will mean losing health coverage so she can to afford to pay her rent, the report says. For Jennifer T. and her husband, who are paying a little more than $100 each month for “basically catastrophic medical insurance,” losing the tax credits will mean the cost will skyrocket to over $900 a month.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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