Preserve the Healthcare Tax Credits in Indiana

The end of the federal government shutdown brings relief for many whose lives and livelihoods were disrupted. Yet, urgent challenges remain. Many Ascension patients in Indiana rely on the enhanced premium tax credits to purchase affordable health coverage through the Individual Insurance Marketplace. These credits make coverage possible for millions of lower-income and middle-class families. Without them, many of them will experience unaffordable spikes to their monthly premiums, and millions could lose their coverage entirely.

The impacts of not extending the healthcare tax credits will not only impact those individuals and families. The affordability crisis will also hit the remaining Individual Marketplace enrollees, restrict access to care in rural areas and ultimately increase costs for everyone as more Americans become uninsured.

As a mission-driven organization, we encourage Ascension associates to contact their representatives in Congress today to urge them to support bipartisan legislation to extend the healthcare tax credits.

Dear [Lawmaker],

As your constituent, I am concerned about protecting affordable healthcare access and urge you to extend the healthcare tax credits that are set to expire at the end of this year. Without congressional action, more than 20 million hardworking Americans will experience steep hikes to their monthly healthcare costs, and many will lose the ability to afford their health insurance entirely.

I’m proud to work at Ascension, a mission-driven, nonprofit healthcare provider. Every day, our caregivers provide compassionate, comprehensive and quality care to everyone who enters through our doors. Many of our patients rely on the healthcare tax credits to afford coverage and access the vital preventative care that keeps them healthy.

In Indiana, more than 263,000 of individuals who purchase insurance through the Individual Marketplace rely on the healthcare tax credits to receive care they need while avoiding medical debt. Our patients are facing an affordability crisis unless Congress acts. For example, without access to the healthcare tax credit, a family of four with an annual income of $75,000 would pay an additional $3,368 to keep their coverage next year. A 60-year-old couple with an annual income of $85,000 would pay more than $22,000 for the same health plan. As a healthcare professional, I know this financial pressure will inevitably push many people to forgo coverage altogether, leaving them uninsured and more likely to defer timely care.

Hardworking, lower and middle-class families, small business owners, and people with chronic illnesses who will bear the brunt of these costs. According to an analysis from Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), nearly all (95 percent) of individuals and families who receive the tax credits are making under $200,000. Moreover, 48 percent enrolled in the individual marketplace today are small business owners, employees of small businesses, or self-employed and rely on the tax credit.

I am asking you, as one of our leaders, to work with your colleagues to provide stability and relief for the American people. Expiration of the healthcare tax credits will take coverage away from many patients served by mission-driven hospitals like Ascension and ultimately reduce access to care for everyone in the communities we serve. I hope you will consider supporting ongoing bipartisan efforts to extend this critical relief.

Sincerely,
______

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