ICYMI: Baldwin Pens Op-Ed Calling Out Republicans for Raising Health Care Costs for Wisconsin Families

WISCONSIN - This weekend, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) penned an op-ed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calling out her Republican colleagues for refusing to act and taking away tax breaks that allow 270,000 Wisconsinites to afford their health care on the Affordable Care Act. Unless Republicans join Senator Baldwin, the Affordable Care Act Enhanced Premium Tax Credits will expire at the end of the year, jacking up the cost of insurance for over 20 million Americans by 75% on average and pricing out four million Americans from being able to afford health care at all. The op-ed comes on the heels of Senator Baldwin hosting events across the state last week to meet with health care providers, small business owners, and families to talk about how these tax breaks have helped them afford health care and what it would mean to have increased costs come January 1^st.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: High prices hurt my WI constituents. Republicans are breaking their promises.

Working Americans don't want handouts, they just want a system that isn't rigged for and by those at the very top. They want health care they can afford when they need it.

Today, a record number of Americans get their insurance from the Affordable Care Act. That is not some accident. Since I helped pass the law in 2010, we've built on its success, making care more affordable for working families by expanding tax breaks that brought costs down. In 2025, 24 million Americans, including over 300,000 Wisconsinites, got insured through the Affordable Care Act.

But right now, that progress is in jeopardy. At the end of this year, those vital tax breaks that helped millions of families afford their insurance will expire. The average premium for the 22 million Americans who use those tax credits will skyrocket by 75% on average, while four million of our neighbors will be priced out of coverage all together.

I hear from Wisconsin families and businesses pinched by high costs

It's not just millions of families in jeopardy, it's local economies. About half of Americans on the Affordable Care Act are small business owners or employees. Gigi, an entrepreneur in Stoughton, Wisconsin, is one of them. This year, Gigi achieved a long-time dream when she opened a small storefront on Stoughton's Main Street. But she relies on this tax relief to afford health insurance - the only way she can afford the oncologist appointments she needs to stay healthy as a survivor of childhood cancer. If the GOP takes these tax breaks away, her premiums will increase by over $350 each month.

Just this week, I also met with Keith who runs a small insurance agency in Marathon City, Wisconsin. Keith shared that without these tax breaks, the premium for his family's insurance will be over three times more expensive each month. What's worse, many of the farmers and self-employed contractors he works with are facing similar increases.

These Wisconsinites just need some breathing room, not to be kicked off their health care. I hear from families and businesses just like these all too often that they are being pinched by high costs. Just getting by is getting harder. I heard it all last year when I was campaigning, just like Donald Trump did. The President even pledged on the campaign trail to bring prices down on day one for families.

My Republican colleagues have had chance after chance - four times in fact - to make good on that promise and join Democrats in voting to stop these premium tax breaks from being stripped away. They have shot it down every time. They even drafted a massive tax bill, and instead of including a tax break for hard working Americans to be able to afford their health care, they chose to cut taxes for big corporations and billionaires.

Expect Affordable Care Act premiums to skyrocket next year

Right now, time is of the essence. Americans who get their health insurance on the Affordable Care Act are poised to get letters in the mail in the coming weeks saying their premiums will go up next year. For families, those skyrocketing insurance costs will trigger tough decisions of what they can afford. Small business owners might see staff flee for big corporations who can afford big group insurance.

Working Americans don't want handouts, they just want a system that isn't rigged for and by those at the very top. They want health care they can afford when they need it.

We have a perfect opportunity to address these Affordable Care Act tax breaks in the bill we pass to keep the government open. Republicans are claiming they want to keep costs down for families. This is their chance. The only question is, will they take it?

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