Senator Peters Helps Lead Legislation to Protect Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) cosponsored legislation to protect access to quality, affordable health care for millions of Americans. The Healthcare Affordability Act would make permanent the Premium Tax Credits (PTCs) that were created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and enhanced by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, two historic laws that Peters helped enacted. These highly effective tax credits have encouraged more than 21 million Americans to register for health care insurance coverage to afford routine doctors' visits, prescription drugs, unexpected medical emergencies, preventative services, and more, with lower out-of-pocket costs. Enhanced PTCs have also protected Americans against rising health care costs and provided stability for providers, particularly in rural areas.

Enhanced PTCs were extended by the Inflation Reduction Act that Peters also helped enact but are set to expire in 2025. Nearly 80 percent of Michiganders who are enrolled in an ACA health insurance plan are qualified for enhanced PTCs. If they are allowed to expire more than 63,000 Michiganders could lose their health care coverage entirely, about 31,000 Michiganders could lose access to the benefits of the tax credit, and 177,000 Michiganders would remain insured but face higher costs. In fact, it would also lead to an average increase of $66 per month in health care premiums for Americans across the country. The Healthcare Affordability Act would ensure Americans continue to have access to affordable health care options by permanently extending this tax cut.

"Every American, no matter their socioeconomic status, deserves access to quality, affordable health care," saidSenator Peters. "I am proud to cosponsor this legislation that would permanently protect this coverage, which has helped more than one million Michiganders secure the health care they need. I'll keep fighting to lower health care and prescription drug costs for families in Michigan and across the country."

Peters has long fought to expand Americans' access to quality, affordable health care. Peters helped enact the Inflation Reduction Actwhich took historic action to lower the cost of health care as well as prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and capping out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 annually. The law has also reduced the cost of insulin, capping it at $35 per month co-pays for seniors on Medicare plans. In addition to cosponsoring the Health Care Affordability Act, Peters also joined his colleagues in urging Senate leadership to request the immediate extension of the enhanced Premium Tax Credits (PTCs) earlier this year.

Peters is also a cosponsor of the Telemental Health Care Access Act which would increase Americans' access to telemental health care services, particularly supporting Americans living in rural areas. Peters also cosponsors the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, which would also expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare. Earlier this year, Peters introduced legislation to expand Michiganders' access to critical health care services by helping to prevent rural emergency room closures. In 2023, his bipartisan provision to expand access to opioid addiction treatment for adolescents advanced in the Senate. Last year, Peters also introduced bipartisan legislation that would reduce health care costs for individuals at risk for diabetes and extend Medicare coverage for medical nutrition therapy services to Americans with pre-diabetes.

The Health Care Affordability Act is supported by key stakeholders including the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Federation of American Hospitals, Alliance of Community Health Plans, Center for American Progress, Families USA, National Health Council, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

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