WASHINGTON, DC - With healthcare premiums set to skyrocket on January 1, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) members across the country are demanding Republican leaders in Congress vote to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits before the January 1st deadline. Without action, millions of working families will be forced to drop their health coverage at a time when all expenses – from groceries to rent to childcare – are pushing families to the breaking point.

Due to intense pressure from their constituents, four Congressional Republicans signed on to a discharge petition this week to force a vote on a House bill extending tax credits for three years. However, Speaker Johnson has yet to call for a vote on the bill — leaving families wondering if they will be able to afford healthcare in the coming year.

SEIU members see the impact of rising healthcare costs every day, not just as patients, but as the workers providing care. Healthcare professionals including physicians, nurses and home care providers represented by the union have long championed the ACA and affordable, accessible care for all people, and spent the year calling on elected officials to stop the immoral cuts to healthcare included in the administration’s Big Ugly Bill. Attacks on the ACA and Medicaid will have a devastating impact on healthcare systems and the communities they serve. A recent study from Community Catalyst showed this attack on the ACA will also be disastrous for communities of color with 1.8 million Black and Hispanic people at risk of losing coverage without the premium tax credit.

Republican leadership’s failure to address the rising cost of living facing working families has real and immediate consequences. Refusing to extend the ACA tax credits is one more attack and will have devastating consequences, forcing millions to choose between paying for health insurance and covering basic necessities, destabilizing healthcare systems, and leaving communities with fewer providers and worse access to care.

That reality is already looming for Kendra Bush, a home health care provider from Portage, Indiana, who shared her outrage and fear with Senate Democrats last week during an ACA spotlight forum on Capitol Hill as she admitted that she may not be able to keep her insurance next year if Congress doesn’t intervene now.

“I work three part-time jobs but I still don’t take home the same pay each month. Homecare isn’t a field that includes guaranteed hours or benefits. I get my health insurance through the ACA Marketplace. Imagine how I felt when I learned my monthly premium is set to jump from $20 to $400 because tax credits are expiring. And that is $400 for the lowest cost plan, but I may have to pay more. Some of the plans will go up to $900 or more.

I am angry because my healthcare costs are going up to help billionaires.”

Bush assists Indiana residents with serious conditions with recovery tasks such as walking after they’re released from the hospital. She says not extending the ACA tax credits would be another devastating blow to her clients after the OBBA.

“My clients are also being hurt by these policies. Since October, I’ve seen their care hours reduced because of Medicaid cuts. Letting the ACA tax credits expire will make things worse. People often end up right back in the hospital without access to good healthcare,” said Bush.

Lynn Weidner, a home care worker from, Allentown Pennsylvania, is worried about her healthcare costs going up along with other needs as well:

“My housing is going up, too. Every year, my rent goes up by $100, but my income doesn’t go up. I don’t get raises every year, so at some point I’m going to get priced out of my apartment,” said Weidner. “I am going to have to choose between my health and my housing, and it’s not fair. I’m trying to find places where I can cut money so that I can afford my insurance come January, which is stressful."

With the health of millions of Americans being at stake, SEIU members and allies will continue to drive calls to Congress demanding they extend ACA tax credits immediately before premiums spike and families are pushed off coverage on January 1. Across multiple states, the union and coalition partners are amplifying the voices of nurses, home care, and public service workers, to let voters know who is to blame for this latest blow to working families. The program targets House Republicans who have consistently voted for policies that inflate corporate profits at the expense of families, including allowing healthcare subsidies to lapse.

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