Health care is too expensive for many Alabamians. Congress can fix it.
In 2025, nearly 500,000 Alabamians received enhanced premium tax credits to help them afford coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace (HealthCare.gov) created under the Affordable Care Act. Those tax credits made health insurance more affordable and accessible โ especially here in Alabama, where leaders have refused to expand Medicaid. That means we rely more heavily on HealthCare.gov to keep our communities covered.
But these enhanced tax credits expired at the end of 2025, and the consequences have been devastating.
๐บ What happened?
- The average Alabamian's healthcare.gov insurance premium doubled.
- Approximately 22,000 Alabamians dropped their health care coverage as a result.
- Many Alabamians selected lower-quality health care plans that may not protect them in the future.
It's not too late to fix this. Congress can still extend the enhanced premium tax credits and increase health care access for Alabama families.
These tax credits saved lives โ helping Alabamians get covered, catch illnesses early and access the care they need.
Congress failed to act, but we won't stay silent. Affordable health insurance isn't a luxury; itโs a necessity. Tell Congress to fix this mistake and protect our savings.
To our elected leaders in Congress:
We, the undersigned, urge you to take immediate action to protect affordable health care for Alabama families by extending the enhanced Premium Tax Credits (ePTCs).
These enhanced subsidies were a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of low- and moderate-income Alabamians who otherwise would struggle to afford health coverage โ including individuals making as little as $15,650 a year or families of four earning around $32,000. Since Congress failed to extend the subsidies before the December 31st deadline, healthcare.gov premiums in Alabama have doubled โ forcing families, small business owners and older adults to drop their high-quality health coverage and leaving at least 22,000 of them uninsured.
Alabama has not expanded Medicaid, so we rely more than most states on the Marketplace to keep people insured. These subsidies were working โ and they should be brought back.
Weโre counting on you to take urgent action NOW to extend the enhanced premium tax credits.
You let our health insurance costs skyrocket, and now you need to fix this mess before families like mine are forced to pay the price.