Jeffries: I Don’t Regret Having Expiration Date for ACA Subsidies

During an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) stated that he doesn’t regret Democrats putting an expiration date on the healthcare subsidies they passed because “We were able to extend it through the end of this year, in full anticipation that any reasonable member of Congress will understand that you cannot kick tens of millions of Americans off of health care that’s become affordable for them as a result of the tax credits.”

Co-host Annmarie Hordern asked, “It was a Democratic policy, though. Your party voted for this temporary subsidy increase. Do you regret having an expiration date on this?”

Jeffries answered, “No. We were able to extend it through the end of this year, in full anticipation that any reasonable member of Congress will understand that you cannot kick tens of millions of Americans off of health care that’s become affordable for them as a result of the tax credits. Unfortunately, Republicans chose, earlier this year, to pass their one big, ugly bill, largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripped food away from the mouths of hungry children and seniors and veterans, and they did all of this to pay for massive tax breaks that they made permanent for their billionaire donors, while, at the same time, refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which is why we find ourselves in this situation right now.”

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