American Workers to See Healthcare Premiums Increase Due to Congress Failure
On November 12, 2025, President Trump signed a bill ending the longest federal government shutdown in history. Much of the debate surrounding the 43-day shutdown was focused on the continuation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. ACA tax credits are a form of financial assistance that can help lower the cost of insurance for eligible individuals and families who purchase coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace (or Exchange).
The ACA established exchanges where individuals without employer-based insurance coverage can purchase health insurance. The ACA also provided tax credits to partially cover the premium costs for enrollees, paid on a sliding scale based on income.
These tax credits were enhanced by the American Recovery Act (ARA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)and are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.
On December 18, Congress adjourned for the New Year with no solution, dramatically increasing the healthcare premiums for the 24 million Americans who purchase their insurance on the Exchange. The Urban Institute estimates that the lowest income individuals will see their premiums quadruple in cost. As a result, nearly 5 million Americans will no longer be able to afford to keep health care coverage.
Since hospitals and other health care providers are often required to provide care to uninsured patients, the cost of the increase in uncompensated care will impose a burden on the health care system across the board. As a result, hospitals will be under severe financial stress. They may be forced to lay off workers or even shut down facilities. In addition, costs will rise for those with insurance, leading insurers to increase health care premiums for everyone, including BAC’s own Taft-Hartley health care plans.
“Working people are already being crushed by rising grocery costs, rent and electric bills,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “The last thing we need is for our health care costs to spike even further because Washington politicians count not solve a crisis of their own making.”
Shuler continued to explain that if the Trump administration and their Congressional allies did not extend the credits “179 million workers with employer-based insurance will be forced to pay more for worse care.”
“This is an issue that effects everyone,” President Driscoll said. “Congressional inaction will force BAC health plans to shoulder rising costs. As a result, local negotiators will be stuck shifting money away from worker raises to maintaining healthcare coverage.”
“In addition, these spikes in health care cost will be felt by BAC members across their communities, especially in rural areas,” President Driscoll continued. “When working people lose affordable coverage, local clinics struggle, rural hospitals face even greater financial pressure, and the entire community loses access to care. This puts working families living in these communities at risk.”