EXCLUSIVE: Democratic legislators push Senate to extend Obamacare tax credits

Fifty-six legislators from 20 states signed a letter urging Senate Majority Leader John Thune to hold a vote on extending Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) tax credits.

“On January 1 of this year, at least 20 million Americans rang in the new year with massive increases in their health care premiums,” the letter says. “This didn’t happen by accident. President Trump and Republicans like yourself in Washington, D.C. decided to kill the enhanced premium tax credits that kept health care affordable for those Americans.”

The credits, which were created by Democrats as part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan, reduced the cost of some Obamacare plans. Many enrollees have seen their premiums double and even quadruple since the credits expired on Jan. 1. Millions of Americans are expected to drop health insurance altogether instead of paying the increased rates.

On Jan. 8, 17 House Republicans joined with Democrats to pass a clean, three-year extension of the credits. President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson opposed this effort. Thune has not said whether he’ll bring the bill to the Senate floor.

“Killing these credits was a conscious choice to dismantle the progress we have made and plunge Americans into financial instability and uncertainty,” the letter continues. “You can’t reverse the damage already done, but luckily for you, House Democrats have given Republicans a lifeline.”

The expiration of the tax credits is likely to exacerbate America’s mounting affordability crisis. A CBS poll from December found that more than 70% of Americans now report struggling to pay for health care, housing, and groceries.

The cost of living has already emerged as a major issue in the 2026 elections. Several of the letter’s signatories are from states with marquee Senate races this year, including Georgia, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Ohio. 

Democratic candidates in these races have made the tax credits a centerpiece of their campaigns.

“Half a million Georgians, it’s projected, will lose their coverage altogether,” Sen. Jon Ossoff said last month. “More than a million more will see their premiums double or worse. This is a choice. What’s the point of having all this power if you won’t use it to help people?”

A portion of the letter focuses on how eliminating the credits will impact young people. It asserts that rising premiums and unmanageable medical debt are what force many people in their 20s and 30s to delay buying homes or starting families.

The letter was organized by the progressive group Defend America Action.