Gov. Tom Wolf speaks at an event. | Gov. Tom Wolf/Facebook
Gov. Tom Wolf speaks at an event. | Gov. Tom Wolf/Facebook
Gov. Tom Wolf and 13 other governors sent a letter to Congress June 29 urging them to take action to ensure funding to preserve Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The subsidies are known as advanced premium tax credits, or APTC, and they were expanded through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, according to a press release by from Wolf’s office. The subsidy eligibility will expire at the end of the plan year if action is not taken.
“Tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians will be impacted if this subsidy expansion expires in December, which will mean their insurance premiums will increase, putting individuals in a health and financial risk,” Wolf said in the release. “It’s critical that we continue to make affordable coverage as accessible as possible to as many as possible, and I applaud President Joe Biden for his leadership to not only expand coverage as part of ARPA, but also to make it permanent. I urge Congress to make these subsidies permanent so that Pennsylvanians can continue to have a better quality of life through affordable comprehensive ACA coverage.”
This has coincided with Wolf’s efforts to make affordable health care coverage a priority, the release stated. In 2019, he signed legislation that established the Pennie as the state based ACA marketplace, which replaced healthcare.gov to help Pennsylvania residents find quality insurance plans. It is also the only source for financial assistance. Nearly 360,000 people use Pennie in Pennsylvania.
Wolf also expanded Medicaid in 2015, according to the release. More than 3 million Pennsylvania residents are covered by medical assistance, and this includes 1 million through expansion. This has led to Pennsylvania having the lowest uninsured rate in the state’s history.
“Healthcare is a right—not a privilege,” Wolf said. “The ARP greatly improved health insurance affordability to ensure lifesaving healthcare is accessible to all Americans. We urge you to take action immediately to make the ARP expanded subsidies permanent to prevent a disastrous erosion of health insurance coverage.”
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