The Alaska House of Representatives has approved a formal letter asking Congress to extend a series of Affordable Care Act tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year.
Unless the credits are extended, Alaskans insured through the federal health insurance marketplace — about 25,000 people — could see their rates rise by an average of 67%.
The House passed House Joint Resolution 9 by a vote of 26-14 on Monday. It is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Health and Social Services Committee on Tuesday.
If approved by the Senate, the resolution would be sent to President Donald Trump and members of Alaska’s congressional delegation, asking them to “champion the extension of enhanced premium tax credits, prioritizing the health and economic stability of the state’s residents by ensuring that affordable health care remains accessible to all.”
Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, sponsored the resolution.
“We know that health care costs, as they will increase, would jeopardize small businesses and entrepreneurship. We are facing a tough fiscal situation. Enhanced premium tax credits make health care more affordable with no cost to the state,” she said, speaking Friday on the House floor. “And if these subsidies expire, we’ll see more people who are uninsured. We’ll see more people go on to Medicaid, which will cost more for the state, and additionally we will see impacts to our economy and small businesses.”
All 14 votes against the resolution came from members of the House’s minority Republican caucus.
Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, said that the resolution asks Congress to make COVID-era relief permanent, at a cost of more than $300 billion.
“When we ask for Congress to do things that increase our deficit, we are increasing inflation that harms Alaskans,” she said.
“When we are asking Congress to take measures that are going to increase the debt by billions of dollars, we’re making things worse in the long term for Alaskans,” Vance said in opposition.
Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, is a member of the minority. He voted in support of the resolution but noted that he did so with reluctance.
“I struggle with this resolution because it’s like a Band-Aid on an arterial bleed,” he said. “It doesn’t actually fix the problem of affordable insurance and quality health care. It’s just funneling a ton of money we take from people, into the pockets of insurance companies so they can charge people less money for insurance premiums, and I don’t know if that model is sustainable.”
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