A key House Democrat said his party is looking to make the new expansion of Obamacare permanent.
Rep. Frank Pallone, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said on Tuesday that Democrats want the two-year expansion of premium tax credits for Obamacare exchanges included in the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act to last beyond 2022.
“House Democrats as whole would like to see that made permanent and not have it just for the next two years,” the New Jersey Democrat said during a press call hosted by the liberal healthcare advocacy group Protect Our Care. “I can speak for all of us that we want to do that.”
The Energy and Commerce Committee is one of the committees in the House that has jurisdiction over healthcare policy.
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It is one of the first public acknowledgments by a senior Democrat that healthcare provisions ostensibly aimed at temporary problems, including people losing health insurance due to the pandemic, could become a long-term part of healthcare policy.
The American Rescue Plan Act expanded premium tax credits, also called subsidies, in two ways. First, for people earning between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, it reduced the amount of income they have to pay toward a policy on the exchanges.
Second, it ended the “subsidy cliff” for people earning over 400% of the federal poverty level. Prior to the American Rescue Plan Act, individuals and families earning over 400% of the federal poverty level were not eligible for subsidies. Now, they will have to pay 8.5% of their income toward an exchange plan. Above that amount, they will receive a subsidy.
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The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the expansion will cost $36 billion over two years. The expanded subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2022.
