The Effects of Not Extending the Expanded Premium Tax Credits for the Number of Uninsured People and the Growth in Premiums
Report
CBO provides estimates on how not extending the expanded premium tax credit will affect the number of people without health insurance and average gross benchmark premiums for plans purchased through the marketplaces.
Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Neal, Senator Shaheen, and Congresswoman Underwood have asked the Congressional Budget Office to discuss the effects on health insurance coverage and premiums that will result from not extending—either for one year or permanently—the expanded premium tax credit structure provided in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA, Public Law 117-2).
ARPA reduced the maximum amount eligible enrollees must contribute toward premiums for health insurance purchased through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, and it extended eligibility to people whose income is above 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). Those provisions were extended through calendar year 2025 in the 2022 reconciliation act (P.L. 117-169).
CBO expects that not extending the credit will increase the number of people without health insurance and raise the average gross benchmark premiums for plans purchased through the marketplaces.
