Congressman Krishnamoorthi Uses Oversight Hearing to Press Colleagues to Extend ACA Tax Credits and Protect Illinois Families from Rising Costs

WASHINGTON — During today’s joint Oversight Committee hearing on lowering health care costs, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, pressed his colleagues to take immediate action to prevent steep premium hikes for Illinois families and to block deep Medicaid and ACA cuts that would destabilize hospitals across the state.

First, Congressman Krishnamoorthi warned that allowing the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits to expire at the end of the year would create an immediate affordability crisis. Without action, half a million Illinoisans will see sharp premium increases, with rural families facing hikes of more than 100 percent.

“If we don’t extend these tax credits, in Illinois alone half a million people will see their premiums go from $260 a month to $464 a month—an almost 80 percent increase. Rural families will be hit even harder, with premiums rising by more than 100 percent. People will not stop needing medical care. Safety-net and rural hospitals will pay the price, and communities will be pushed into health care deserts unless we act.”

Congressman Krishnamoorthi also highlighted the separate, longer-term threat posed by the Republican so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which contains sweeping Medicaid and ACA cuts. Drawing on his visits to Loretto Hospital in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood and Franklin Hospital in Benton, he noted that hospital leaders warned the cuts would force program reductions, staff layoffs, and potential service shutdowns. With eleven Illinois hospitals already at risk of closure, these cuts would accelerate an emerging statewide crisis.

Finally, Congressman Krishnamoorthi underscored the human stakes of failing to extend the ACA tax credits by sharing the story of Krystle, a mother from central Illinois whose three medically complex children rely on ACA subsidies to access care.

“With the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits, she can buy coverage for her three children at $800 a month. If we let those credits expire, her premiums will nearly double to $1,400 a month, trapping her in a coverage gap. The only alternative would be leaving her job just so her kids can get health coverage. No parent should ever face that choice.”

Congressman Krishnamoorthi urged Congress to move quickly to extend the ACA tax credits and reject cuts that would shutter hospitals and deepen health care deserts. He emphasized that both challenges are preventable, and that decisive bipartisan action is needed to protect Illinois families from higher costs and reduced access to care.

The opening statement is available here and the question line is available here.