Possible Marketplace Tax Credit Extension Raises Republican Hackles

Extending enhanced premium tax credits for the Affordable Care Act individual marketplace would cost the federal government $134 billion if extended from 2025 to 2029 and $383 billion if extended from 2025 to 2034, according to a new projection from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The federal agency’s projection also predicts that “an average of 3.8 million more people” per year would have health insurance than if the premium tax credits were allowed to expire. A more in-depth CBO “score” of extending the tax credits is also in the works following a request by Republican leadership in the House of Representatives — who seem poised to oppose any move to extend the tax credits.

Congress must extend the enhanced tax credits — called advance premium tax credits (APTCs) — which were initially passed as part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and extended as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). If Congress doesn’t act, the credits will expire at the end of the 2025 plan year.