U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) is cosponsoring a bipartisan bill that would preserve access to affordable health care for tens of millions of Americans by extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Premium Tax Credits for two years.
“Our bipartisan legislation will assure Americans are spared from a massive increase in healthcare costs that is just around the corner,” Rep. Kiley said on Nov. 25. “It provides a two-year extension for tax credits that 22 million Americans rely on, and does so in a fiscally responsible way — without increasing the deficit.”
The congressman on Nov. 10 signed on as the lead original cosponsor of the Fix It Act, H.R. 6010, which is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and fellow original cosponsors including U.S. Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Maggie Goodlander (D-NH). U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) signed on as a cosponsor on Nov. 25.
“Iowans deserve affordable healthcare coverage, but we can’t keep asking taxpayers to bankroll a broken system,” said Rep. Nunn. “This bill offers a common-sense bridge by protecting working Iowans from premium spikes while holding insurers accountable and cracking down on fraud. It’s the kind of bipartisan fix we need for short-term stability so that we can negotiate long-term reform.”
H.R. 6010 now has the broadest bipartisan support of any two-year extension of ACA tax credits, according to Rep. Kiley, who cited data from the Bipartisan Policy Center showing that a two-year extension would have an aggregate cost of $55.3 billion.
To pay for the tax credit extension, the bill would crack down on Medicare Advantage waste, cap eligibility while protecting working-class recipients, and strive to end insurance fraud by unscrupulous brokers, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Kiley’s office.
For example, the bill would identify savings by narrowing the focus to the working and middle class by capping eligibility at six times the poverty level, or $192,900 for a family of four. This would save roughly $5 billion over two years, the summary says.
Additionally, H.R. 6010 would impose new civil and criminal penalties for agents and brokers who submit false ACA applications, create a consent verification process for new enrollments and coverage changes, require plan marketers to register with the state, and bolster consumer protections, states the summary.
The measure is under consideration by both the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.