This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
GOP Rep. Jeff Hurd is part of a bipartisan quartet of lawmakers trying to extend a tax credit that helps people buy health insurance on the state marketplace. Their proposal focuses on an issue that was at the heart of this fall’s government shutdown.
Hurd said the cost of health care and health insurance premiums is not a Republican or a Democratic issue. “I don’t care how red or blue your district is, this is something that your constituents care about.”
The Bipartisan Healthcare Optimization Protection Extension (HOPE) Act extends the enhanced premium tax credit for two years. It includes a lower income cap for enrollees, about $200,000 for a family of four, and phases out for those making above that (currently the subsidy is capped based on what percent of a family’s income it spends on health care). The bill would also try to crack down on fraud.
Backers describe the bill as a needed stopgap measure.
“We don't want to see premiums skyrocket, but we probably need a deeper plan for the longer term to deal with the high cost of healthcare,” said Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, the other GOP lead on the bill. “What we're proposing is a bridge. Let's help keep people's premiums down — that's important — and it’ll give us time to work on it, maybe something better over the next year or two.”
“People are freaking out. I mean, I get phone calls from people about seeing their premiums go up by a thousand dollars a month.,” said Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York, one of the Democratic leads.
He noted that Republican Senate leaders have promised a vote on an ACA tax credit extension bill by mid-December. But that’s not guaranteed in the House. “That's why we felt it was very important for us to get together as a bipartisan team to say, let's work together and let's force something to happen here that we can try and build consensus on.”
All four sponsors of the Bipartisan HOPE Act are also co-sponsors of a separate bill that would extend the credit for one year in its current form. They said their bill was developed from other lawmakers’’ response to that effort.
“Some of the feedback that we got from that was, listen, it's not long enough. There are some reforms that we need to be making,” Hurd explained, adding that this new bill “addresses those concerns that we've heard from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle.”
Hurd enters the ACA fray
It’s not unusual for Bacon, Suozzi or the Bipartisan HOPE Act’s fourth sponsor, Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, to be found standing in front of a half dozen cameras at the U.S. Capitol. These three have been in Congress since 2019 and as members of the Problem Solvers Caucus have been part of other bipartisan policy plans enacted into law.
However, the first-term Hurd was a new face when they gathered on the Capitol’s East Steps to unveil the bill last week.
Bacon introduced Hurd to the crowd of reporters personally. “He’s a great new freshman doing wonderful things for our House.”
Suozzi praised Hurd, also a member of the Problem Solvers, as the “new guy in Congress from Colorado who just really wants to do the right thing and is stepping out along with everyone else here to say we’re planting this flag. We’re trying to get something done.”
There is some potential risk for Hurd here; he’s advocating for a bill that President Donald Trump does not currently support. Even House leadership has been skeptical of extending the credit.
Still, there is a strong incentive for Hurd to act. His district is seeing some of the highest increases in ACA premiums across the state.
According to a new survey from the Colorado Polling Institute, 3 out 4 Coloradans think Congress should extend the enhanced tax credit and a majority of those polled believe the cost of health insurance in Colorado is a crisis or a major problem.
But there are also limits to how far out on a limb the Western Slope Republican will go. Hurd said he would not support a discharge petition to get the bill to the floor. If it gets enough signatures, a discharge petition allows lawmakers to bypass leadership and bring a bill that has a majority of support in the full chamber to a vote.
The unusual procedure recently succeeded in forcing a vote on releasing the Epstein files.
“I think regular order is the right way to do this,” said Hurd. “We’re giving Congress and our colleagues in the Senate a serious, incredible proposal. I think it's really good and I think it reflects a consensus that is sound public policy.”
Some lawmakers are willing to consider it.
“I’m always willing to have a conversation about what a bipartisan path forward could look like,” said Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who said she’s looking into the details of the Bipartisan HOPE Act and is also in the Problem Solvers Caucus. “Doing something to address the skyrocketing costs is significantly better than what is currently happening to Americans.”
Still this bill faces an uphill climb in Congress.
GOP Rep. Gabe Evans said people in his district are worried about the affordability of healthcare, but is concerned the income cap is too generous.
“I've talked to folks that have said, ‘why should I, as somebody that's making $50, $60, $70,000 a year, have to subsidize somebody who's making $200,000 a year, $300,000 a year?” he said.
Evans, who is also in the Problem Solvers, said talking about income caps and dealing with waste and abuse in the system are conversations that need to happen.
Suozzi, however, is optimistic that the Bipartisan HOPE Act could help pave the way to a solution — especially if lawmakers start hearing from their constituents about it.
“One of the best ways to move things in this town is to have a lot of public support for it, and to have a lot of political support for it. And we're trying to just lay the groundwork for something to build support for. And that's how you get something done.”
