Thousands of Pennsylvanians have left the state’s only Affordable Care Act marketplace, Pennie, following sharp increases in monthly premiums due to expiring enhanced federal subsidies.
Overpowering Speaker Mike Johnson, a bipartisan coalition in the House voted Wednesday to push forward a measure that would revive an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowered health insurance costs for roughly 22 million people, but that had expired last month.
The stunning move came the same day that House Republican leaders pushed to passage a health care bill that does not address the soaring monthly premiums that millions of people will soon endure. Those premium hikes will occur because the tax credits for those who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act expire at year’s end.
Pennsylvanians now have until Dec. 31 to enroll in the commonwealth’s health insurance marketplace.
Federal tax credits that lowered the cost of Pennie insurance are due to expire at year’s end. The state estimates that enrollees will see their premium payments roughly double next year unless Congress acts to extend the subsidies.
Three million care workers, many of them Black and Latina women, could be classified as “companions” instead of professionals.
Premiums for state marketplace plans are expected to double in the coming year.
A newly renovated three-bed inpatient 'Pediatrics Pod' at UPMC Hanover Hospital will help the community's youngest patients closer to home, officials said during a ribbon cutting.
A slate of eight bipartisan Congress members, including U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has introduced a bill to extend health care tax credits.
For a critical sliver of the Republican majority, the impending expiration of what are called enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 is a pressing concern as they potentially face headwinds in a 2026 midterm election that will be critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda.
