Health care and how to pay for it has been one of the hottest topics in American politics — and around American dinner tables — seemingly since the world was young.
Certainly since the Affordable Care Act was argued over and then passed into law and signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010.
Obamacare aimed to expand health insurance coverage to more Americans and to lower costs. (One of those happened; the other didn’t.) During the COVID-19 pandemic, government subsidies were temporarily expanded even further. Those are set to expire at the new year, hiking premiums for millions of Americans.
For the fifth iteration of our In-House Opinions feature, we asked 11 Southern California members of the House of Representatives the same questions: “Given the current congressional deadlock, what specific legislative solution would you prioritize right now to significantly lower healthcare costs for the average American family? Should Congress focus on making the current ACA premium subsidies permanent, or do you see more long-term potential in a new model emphasizing expanded Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or other market-based solutions?”
Rep Ted Lieu, D-Torrance: “They knew the ACA subsidies were set to expire, and they chose to do nothing. Now, at the eleventh hour, Speaker Johnson has put forward a so-called plan that still fails to lower premiums or provide certainty for families. That is not leadership, and it is not a serious solution. The most straightforward and responsible path forward is to extend the ACA tax credits. That is why I support the discharge petition for a clean, three-year extension — and why a majority of members agree with me. I also demand Republicans cancel their $1 trillion cut to Medicaid and $500 billion cut to Medicare. Speaker Johnson should stop delaying and work with Democrats to stop the Republican healthcare crisis.”
Rep. Young Kim, R-Yorba Linda: “Democrats have broken our healthcare system — driving up prices and making care simply unaffordable. Their only solution is to keep the status quo. Americans deserve real, lasting reforms. This week, I voted for legislation to lower costs, put patients first, and expand choice. I will continue to work with President Trump to deliver better healthcare for Americans. That means pursuing innovative, market-driven solutions that put patients and families first, expand choice and lower health care costs for all Americans.”
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona: “ACA subsidies have done nothing to reduce premiums and lower costs for families. We need to help Americans, not big insurance companies. The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act includes cost sharing reductions, expands access to Association Health Plans and provides more choices for employees to customize their health plans. This bill offers common-sense solutions to lower premium costs and expand access to quality care.”
Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Yucaipa: “Health care affordability is a major issue for our country. The U.S. has one of the best health care systems in the world in terms of quality of care, but one of the worst in terms of cost, and the Affordable Care Act has turned out to be anything but affordable. … Instead, I support structural reforms that attack the root causes of the problem and reduce the cost of health care for all Americans, not just the 7% who have ACA plans. These reforms include expanding access to association health plans to allow people who aren’t covered by employer plans to pool their risk, strengthening CHOICE arrangements to incentivize employers to fund health benefits for their workers, putting transparency requirements on pharmacy benefit managers to drive down drug prices, and funding Cost-Sharing Reductions for low income enrollees. This last policy change alone would lower ACA premiums by over 11%, nearly double the amount that the expiring tax credits do.”
Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona: “Congress should focus on lowering healthcare costs by extending the Affordable Care Act healthcare tax credits, which would instantly lower health insurance costs by thousands of dollars for families. If these tax credits expire for Inland Empire families who buy healthcare from Covered California will be forced to pay over $1,000 more a year on average, and for many, much more. For example, a 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year together in San Bernardino County will have to pay four times as much for the same Covered California health plan, forcing them to pay more than $16,300 more a year.”
Rep. Derek Tran, D-Cypress:
“Reforming pharmacy benefit managers’ (PBM) practices is a key pathway to making health care affordable. That’s why I’m leading the common-sense, bipartisanPBM Reform Act with Representatives Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) to crack down on PBM practices that limit patient access to medication and drive up costs, a meaningful step toward lowering the outrageously high prescription drug prices that California families face.
Additionally, I am working hard to protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions that have made health care accessible to millions of families. The ACA is a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of children, working-class Americans, seniors, Veterans, and small business owners for whom essential health care would otherwise be unaffordable. Specifically, the ACA’s tax credit provisions help California families save hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on their monthly health care bill. These credits were intended to be permanent, but political maneuvering in Washington put an expiration date on patients’ savings. I heard from one retired couple in my district that they will be paying $3,000 more next year without the premium tax credits.
Alternatives like expanded HSAs will not lower health care costs for California families; instead, Californians would be forced to pay more for worse coverage and risk devastating out-of-pocket costs in the event of unexpected health emergencies.
I’ve been fighting to force a vote in the House to save these cost-saving provisions and make them permanent. We just got the bipartisan support we need to vote to extend the tax credits because, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, it’s undeniable that these tax credits help families save money. That’s what I’ll keep pushing for every day that I’m in Congress.”
Rep. Dave Min, D-Irvine: “I support making these ACA tax credits permanent, but at a bare minimum, we must pass a clean extension of them. Working families who don’t have employer-based health insurance and are therefore purchasing their insurance from an exchange will see their monthly premiums rise by hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month. The expiration of these tax credits will force many households to choose between paying their rent or having health insurance, and that means that many – over 30,000 in my district – will end up uninsured.
The Republican proposals on healthcare are essentially a portfolio of untested policies, many of which we know will have the effect of increasing healthcare costs by allowing for the proliferation of junk insurance and reducing consumer protections. What they do not do is address the massive cost increases American households are facing due to the Republican attacks on the ACA.
Let’s be clear what’s at stake. Many people will die because they can no longer afford health insurance. Others will go bankrupt. This is immoral, it is wrong, and it’s being done because Republicans made a deliberate decision earlier this year to defund healthcare programs in order to pay for massive tax cuts for billionaires.”
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside: “Donald Trump and House Republicans created a healthcare crisis when they canceled the current ACA subsidies that millions of Americans rely on. Instead of fixing the problem they created, House Republicans passed a bill that would raise costs and strip Americans of healthcare protections. It is time for a clean, 3-year extension of the ACA subsidies that brings down costs and protects Americans’ care.”