Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is asking a federal watchdog to investigate how pending cuts to insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act will impact veterans and their families. Blumenthal said the Department of Veterans Affairs is not prepared to handle an influx of veterans who’ve lost their insurance after ACA subsidies end on Dec. 31. He is shown at a rally in October to protest VA workforce reductions. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Several Democratic senators urged an independent watchdog to investigate how the looming expiration of health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act will impact hundreds of thousands of veterans and their family members.
Twenty-eight lawmakers sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office demanding an in-depth look at projected health insurance premium increases after enhanced ACA tax credits end on Dec. 31.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, of New York, the Senate minority leader, led the letter-writing campaign.
They are asking the GAO to investigate how an end to tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, combined with new Medicaid restrictions and reductions at the Department of Veterans Affairs, will affect veterans and their families.
Health premiums are set to spike after Jan. 1 for 24 million Americans, including veterans and their dependents enrolled in discounted health insurance plans through the ACA marketplace. People apply for health insurance and manage their plans through an online portal at www.healthcare.gov.
“Coupled with Medicare and Medicaid cuts — which go into effect next year — Americans, including millions of veterans and veteran family members, are bracing for higher costs and a looming health care crisis,” the senators wrote in a letter to GAO comptroller Gene L. Dodaro dated Dec. 18.
The lawmakers — 26 Democrats and two independents — blamed their Republican counterparts for blocking efforts in Congress to renew the tax credits, which have reduced out-of-pocket costs for qualifying individuals and families since 2021.
Individuals enrolled in the ACA program access health insurance with lower costs based on their annual income and household size, among other factors. The program has become increasingly popular, with the number of enrollees more than doubling in five years.
“We write to request you review how these widespread cuts to health care access for all Americans will also impact veterans, and their families and to what extent VA will be able to support an influx of veterans relying on the Department for health care more than ever before,” according to the letter.
A family of four with a household income of $45,000 currently has no annual premium but will be charged $1,607 a year when the subsidies expire, according to the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center.
“Veterans and our families are facing a two-headed attack on our ability to access quality care,” said Army veteran Jose Vasquez, who leads Common Defense, a nonprofit organization that advocates for veterans.
“The VA system we earned through our service is under relentless political pressure to outsource and privatize. At the same time, the civilian health care market we’re often pushed into is collapsing beneath us,” Vasquez said.
The higher premiums will force some veterans who used ACA subsidies for private plans to turn to the VA health system, he said.
But Vasquez said the VA system is burdened by growing caseloads amid a workforce reduction of tens of thousands of employees.
President Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in North Carolina on Friday, warned supporters that Democrats are willing to shut down the government again over their efforts to renew ACA subsidies.
Partisan differences over extending ACA tax credits led to a 43-day federal government shutdown that ended in mid-November.
Trump also discussed his own plan to meet with health insurance executives to negotiate lower insurance prices for Americans.
“So rather than just saying, ‘We’re not going to deal,’ maybe they’ll give us a deal by cutting prices by 50, and maybe this makes sense,” Trump said.
Congress is on winter recess, with members returning to their home districts, and not expected to reconvene until after Jan. 1.
In addition to Blumenthal and Schumer, the letter to the GAO comptroller was signed by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md.; Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J.; Sen. Angus King, I-Maine; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.; Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
