Cantwell Urges Congress to Take Swift Action to Lower Skyrocketing Health Care Premiums

"Let's do everything we can to make health insurance more affordable," says Cantwell; Affordable Care Act's Enhanced Premium Tax Credits are set to expire, driving health insurance premiums up as providers brace for higher uncompensated care costs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Finance Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate floor urging Congress to extend tax credits that make health insurance more affordable and lower costs across the entire health care system.

"The tax credits that help make coverage affordable for those who need it the most, are essential to driving down the cost for everyone," said Sen. Cantwell. "So if you don't keep the tax credits, we are now going to face skyrocketing health care costs."

"We can't afford to go back to a situation we had before the Affordable Care Act, when one of every seven Americans didn't have health insurance," Sen. Cantwell added. "We can't afford the wave of uncompensated care costs that will hit hospitals and eventually, all of us…So let's do our jobs. Let's quickly act to extend the ACA tax credits. Let's do everything we can to make health insurance more affordable."

Video of Sen. Cantwell's remarks is HERE, a transcript is HERE.

Last week, the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner announced the 2026 rate increases for Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace enrollees in Washington state. Next year, Washington's small business owners and people who purchase health insurance on the open market will pay an average of 21% more per month for coverage - nearly double the rate increase from 2024 to 2025. This spike is largely due to Congressional Republicans' failure to extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits under the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Cantwell convened stakeholders and small business owners in Spokane and Vancouver last month to raise the alarm about skyrocketing health insurance costs - she warned that next year, WA small business owners and folks who purchase health insurance on the open market were likely facing large rate hikes.

READ MORE:

• The Seattle Times: WA Individual Buyers of Health Insurance Could Face a 'Double Whammy'
• The Columbian: Sen. Cantwell, Vancouver Child Care Center Owner Urge Congress to Take Action to Save the ACA Tax Credits, Expansion
• The Spokesman-Review: Leaders and Policy Analysts Warn of ACA Insurance Costs Increasing to 75% Next Year, Potentially Impacting Thousands in Eastern Washington

"I face the difficult decision of how much of the rate hikes -- currently at 24% -- do I take on and absorb?" said Dana Christiansen, owner of Tree Hill Learning Center in Southwest Washington.

"How much do I pass on to the employee? How much do I pass on to the families in the form of tuition increases? And most painfully, what benefits I might have to cut."

"It's not just me that's impacted," said Nicole Sohn, owner of Journey Discovery Center in Spokane. "It's every employer in every county in our state. It's manufacturing, it's retail, it's everywhere."

Video of the press conference in Vancouver is HERE; video of the press conference in Spokane is HERE.

Earlier this month, Sen. Cantwell also sparred with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his anti-science views that are making America sicker and less prepared for the next pandemic: "Sir, you're a charlatan. That's what you are." Video of her exchange with RFK Jr. is HERE.

President Donald Trump signed Republicans' "Big Ugly Bill" into law in July. The bill included multiple provisions expected to drive up health care costs, including deep cuts to Medicaid, new hurdles to accessing coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and failure to extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, which help subsidize health insurance for more than 214,000 Washingtonians and will expire at the end of 2025.

Economists expect the increase will squeeze business owners - already facing uncertain futures thanks to President Trump's chaotic tariff wars - and force them to find ways to tighten their belts. Many individuals who purchase their own plans on the open market are likely to find themselves priced out of the market altogether, or forced to make deep cuts in their own household budgets to compensate. As an analysis from Kaiser Family Foundation, a leading national nonprofit focused on health care policy, notes, insurers anticipate that as some healthier members leave their plans when their subsidies decrease, that will "creat[e] an enrollee base that is less healthy and more expensive on average."

People without health insurance tend to wait until their health problem is an emergency before seeking care in local hospitals. This leads to more crowded emergency rooms for everyone. And hospitals must factor the uncompensated cost of additional uninsured patients into already strained finances.