MADISON (NBC 26) — With the government shutdown entering its fourth week, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is warning healthcare premiums could skyrocket next year if Congress doesn't extend tax credits under the Affordable Care Act.
Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and other Democrats are blaming Congressional Republicans for not negotiating.
“At a time when costs continue to go up and families and seniors are already struggling to make ends meet, we should be doing everything we can to make healthcare more affordable and accessible," Evers said in a press release Monday. "But instead, Republicans in Congress are refusing to extend key supports under the Affordable Care Act, which means some Wisconsinites will pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more every month and even tens of thousands of dollars more a year—folks, that’s breathtaking."
"This crisis was avoidable," Baldwin said in a Zoom press conference on Monday. "Wisconsin families do not have to pay an arm and a leg for healthcare. This is all a choice that my Republican colleagues are making."
Republican Congressman Tony Wied, who represents Wisconsin's 8th District, says the Affordable Care Act, which passed without a single GOP vote, "has made healthcare anything but affordable."
"The Democrats’ temporary tax credits introduced during the COVID era were never meant to be permanent and extending them would cost an estimated $335 billion over the next decade," Wied said in a statement to the NBC 26 newsroom. "Rather than pointing fingers at Republicans, Governor Evers should urge his friend, Senator Baldwin, to join us and vote to reopen the government so we can get to work on lowering healthcare costs for hardworking Wisconsin families."
Sen. Ron Johnson tells NBC 26 that premiums are skyrocketing because of "the faulty design of Obamacare."
"Both its basic subsidies and the temporary pandemic-enhanced subsidies only hide the ACA’s failure to deliver on its promises," Johnson said in a statement. "Democrats scheduled the enhanced subsidies to expire, but subsidies for people at or below 400% of the poverty level will continue. Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a failed program will not fix it and will further mortgage our children’s future.”
The crux of the issue surrounding the ongoing shutdown is whether or not to extend premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, which are set to expire at the end of 2025.
On Tuesday, the Senate failed to pass a government funding bill for the 13th time, falling short of the 60-vote threshold. 54 senators voted "yea," while 45 voted "nay."
