WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined Senate Democrats to introduce the Lower Health Care Costs Act, legislation to extend the enhanced premium ACA tax credits for three years and protect New Mexicans from Trump's affordability crisis, which is skyrocketing the cost of health care. The legislation is led by U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The full text of the Lower Health Care Costs Act is here.
Republicans control the House, Senate, and the White House. In the most recent government shutdown, Trump and Republicans chose not to work with Heinrich and Democrats to extend the ACA tax credits, chose to shut down the government for 44 days, which made it the longest government shutdown in American history, and chose to pass a government funding bill that fails to extend the ACA tax credits. The ACA tax credits expire at the end of this month. BeWell New Mexico estimates that over 6,300 New Mexico enrollees will face increased health insurance costs starting January 1, 2026, if the enhanced APTC is not extended.
Heinrich repeatedly voted for a government funding bill that included an extension of the ACA health tax credits and urged Congressional Republicans to come to the negotiating table to engage in good faith bipartisan negotiations with Democrats to extend these tax credits and reopen the government. Meanwhile, Republicans refused and voted to let insurance premiums skyrocket, let children go hungry, and let working people fend for themselves.
Heinrich voted to pass the American Rescue Plan in 2021, which authorized initial enhancements to the premium tax credit to make health insurance more affordable for more people and increase subsidies for working, middle-income families in New Mexico. In 2022, Heinrich voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which extended the enhanced premium tax credit through 2025.
Heinrich cosponsors the Health Care Affordability Act of 2025 (S.46) to make the enhanced Advance Premium Tax Credit permanent and build upon record health care marketplace enrollment.
Recently, Heinrich hosted a roundtable to hear directly from New Mexicans whose premiums will rise significantly as a result of Congressional Republicans’ refusal to extend the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits.
In September, Heinrich hosted a press conference with BeWell New Mexico and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty to highlight how the health care crisis, created by Trump and Republicans, will hike health care premiums if Republicans’ allow ACA premium tax credits to expire.
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