The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Dec. 3, held a hearing, “Making Health Care Affordable Again: Healing a Broken System.” The hearing took place as Congress continues to debate how to address the affordability challenges created by the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs) at the end of this year. Established under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2, PDF), these credits help low- and middle-income people purchase health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces.
In his opening statement, Chair Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.) criticized the EPTCs as a “band-aid on a broken bone” and urged the committee to identify the “root cause of rising health care costs.” However, Cassidy acknowledged the immediacy of the challenges posed by the credits’ impending expiration and signaled an interest in reaching a bipartisan solution before the start of the new year. Cassidy also emphasized his support for redirecting federal subsidies towards pre-funded health care savings accounts — a proposal he had previously raised during a Nov. 19 Senate Finance Committee hearing on this same topic [refer to Washington Highlights, Nov. 21].
Throughout the hearing, committee members disagreed about how to address affordability challenges. Republicans criticized the ACA subsidies as being vulnerable to fraud and abuse, while and Democrats countered that Republican-championed proposals fail to adequately protect patients from unexpected medical costs. The Senate is expected to hold a floor vote on this issue next week.