AHIP, the trade group representing U.S. health insurers, said this week it’s still not too late to renew the credits.
“There are challenges associated with implementing a late extension of the health care tax credits, but these challenges are not insurmountable – particularly if there is continuity in policy for 2026,” AHIP President Mike Tuffin said in a statement.
“There is still time to protect 24 million Americans from the largest spike in health care costs in history and there is still time to ensure consumers see immediate relief in 2026,” added Tuffin. “If the tax credits are extended, health insurers will work quickly with regulators and do everything they can to help consumers understand their updated coverage choices for 2026.”
For some in Idaho, where open enrollment began this Wednesday, the reality of the expiring tax credits is already here.
As NBC News reported this week, families in the Gem State have received notices that their monthly premiums could more than triple in the absence of the subsidies.
And recent projections show that the impact would go farther than just rising uninsurance rates. A report by researchers at George Washington University and the Commonwealth Fund found that almost 340,000 jobs could be lost if the tax credits are allowed to expire.
“Approximately 339,100 jobs are projected to be lost in 2026, as loss of income forces health care providers and other businesses to reduce their workforces. Slightly less than half of these jobs (154,000) will be health care–related, while the rest (185,000) will be in other sectors of the economy,” the report found.
