Case backs bipartisan plan to prevent spike in ACA health insurance premiums

US Rep. Ed Case says about 25,000 Hawai‘i residents could face “unacceptable cost increases” next year if Congress fails to extend key Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that are set to expire at the end of December.

Case, D-Hawaiʻi, joined a bipartisan group of 35 House members this week in unveiling “CommonGround 2025”, a health care framework aimed at preventing large premium hikes for the roughly 24 million Americans who get coverage through ACA marketplace plans.

“Millions of Americans are facing crippling increases in their healthcare costs because of Congress’s inability to extend these often literally lifesaving ACA provisions,” Case said Thursday during a news conference at the US Capitol. He said the proposal is a test of whether Congress can work to address the real needs of Americans.

Under the bipartisan proposal, enhanced Premium Tax Credits — which were expanded during the pandemic — would be extended for two years while lawmakers work on longer-term reforms.

Without action before Dec. 31, Case said marketplace enrollees nationwide could see premiums more than double on average in 2026, with some losing coverage entirely.

Case said the group worked for months — including during the recent federal shutdown — to craft a plan that could actually pass both chambers.

“Our bipartisan plan offers a practical, common-sense, mainstream solution,” Case said. “It also gives Congress the time to develop and legislate the deeper reforms necessary to improve a health care system which is simply too unavailable and affordable for too many Americans.”

The framework is led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jen Kiggans, R-Va., and received support from 33 other House members on both sides of the aisle.

The policy, which would extend healthcare premium savings for two years, including a year of the enhanced Premium Tax Credits (ePTCs) with targeted modifications, will be voted on by Dec. 18, 2025, in the US Senate and House of Representatives.

The proposal and letter to House and Senate leadership explaining CommonGround 2025 is available here.