Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduces bill to protect affordable health care access
Unless Congress renews expiring premium tax credits, 30,000 Wisconsites are expected to lose their health insurance.

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen introduced a bill on Jan. 9 to make permanent enhanced premium tax credits for those who purchase health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The temporary credits, initially passed in 2021, saved 231,646 Wisconsinites an average of $573 per month in 2024, according to an estimate by the nonprofit KFF.
The Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly known as Obamacare, established a health insurance marketplace for individuals to purchase health insurance plans and provided tax credits to help lower-income Americans pay their premiums. Provisions in President Joe Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan and his 2022 Inflation Reduction Act increased those premium tax credits and made them available to more families for the tax years 2021 through 2025.
Baldwin and Shaheen’s Health Care Affordability Act would make the enhanced credits permanent and is co-sponsored by 39 other members of the Senate Democratic caucus. Without the credits, the nonpartisan Urban Institute estimates, 61,000 fewer people in Wisconsin would be able to access subsidized plans, and 30,000 of those would lose their insurance coverage entirely.
“Every Wisconsinite should be able to get the health care they need. Period. Our Affordable Care Act put health care within reach for millions of Americans who could for the first time afford and access the comprehensive care they need to stay healthy, but there’s more work to do,” Baldwin said in a press release. “I’m looking at every way we can further lower costs and expand access to good health care for families – and that starts with not jacking up costs on Wisconsinites. If we don’t make these tax breaks permanent, thousands of working families will see their health care bills skyrocket, potentially leaving some without the lifesaving care they need.”
No members of the Senate Republican majority have backed the proposal to date.
The office of Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment; however, Johnson has repeatedly supported efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in its entirety.
President Donald Trump ran in 2016 on a promise to immediately repeal the ACA and replace it with something “terrific” that provided health insurance for every American. He failed to produce such a plan during his first term. Trump claimed in a September 2024 debate that he has the “concepts of a plan” to do so in his second term.