[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 214 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1229-E1230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LOWER HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS FOR ALL AMERICANS ACT
______
speech of
HON. ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT
of virginia
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the
Record, two letters of opposition to H.R. 6703, the Lower Health Care
Premiums for Americans Act, from AFL-CIO and AFSCME.
AFL-CIO,
December 16, 2025.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the AFL-CIO, a federation
of 64 affiliate unions representing 15 million working people
across our economy, I urge you to oppose the Lower Health
Care Premiums for All Americans Act (H.R. 6703) when it is
considered on the House floor. Instead, we urge you to join
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries's discharge petition to move a clean,
three-year extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act
(ACA) tax credits which will expire on December 31.
H.R. 6703 is billed as the House Republicans' alternative
to a straightforward extension of the ACA tax credits that
lower health care premiums for millions of Americans.
However, this legislation is a fundamentally flawed approach
to health care coverage because it shifts costs to workers as
it reduces costs for employers and insurance companies. It
allows health plans to provide stripped-down coverage that
does not comply with ACA essential benefits requirements in
order to lower premium costs and claims expenses for
employers and insurers. The costs of this policy, however,
are borne by people with pre-existing conditions and chronic
diseases that find their insurance does not cover the
services they need. Further, it rewards low-road employers
that seek a competitive edge by skimping on coverage for
their workers.
The bill will steer workers into association health plans
(AHPs), expanding plans that evade ACA requirements to cover
essential health benefits. Providing skimpier coverage will
lower premiums for employers but increase costs for people
who find that needed services are not covered. In addition,
AHPs have a track record of poor management and insolvency,
and plan bankruptcies have left thousands of working people
with unpaid medical bills.
The legislation would also allow employer health plans to
avoid the ACA requirement that insured plans cover essential
health benefits. The policy allows plans that are unable to
self-fund with adequate reserves to instead purchase a high
level of stop-loss insurance to become `self-insured' and
evade ACA requirements. Lack of adequate reserves leave many
of these plans, and their enrollees, at risk since stop-loss
insurers often retain the right to drop the insurance if
medical costs for the group begin to climb. The bill prevents
states from ensuring that plans have the reserves necessary
to protect enrollees with high medical expenses from
financial ruin if their health plan becomes insolvent.
It is imperative that the House reject H.R. 6703 and move
to advance Rep. Jeffries's discharge petition to hold a floor
vote on a three-year extension of the ACA tax credits. With
only weeks to spare before the 2026 plan year begins,
Congress must act to prevent premiums from doubling or
tripling for more than 20 million people, and to keep almost
4 million people from losing their health coverage
altogether. Action is also needed to
[[Page E1230]]
keep hundreds of hospitals, nursing homes, maternity clinics,
and primary care providers from closing as this latest round
of funding cuts will compound the trillion-dollar loss
enacted as part of the `Big Beautiful' Bill Act (H.R. 1).
Provider closures will cause many communities to lose crucial
services altogether and will incur job losses of more than
600,000 in the health care sector.
The choices are clear, and on behalf of America's working
families, we urge you to vote against the Lower Health Care
Premiums for All Americans Act and to join the Jeffries
discharge petition.
Sincerely,
Jody Calemine,
Director, Government Affairs.
____
AFSCME,
December 16, 2025.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the 1.4 million members
of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME), we write to express our opposition to the
lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act (H.R. 6703),
which is scheduled for a vote this week.
At a moment when millions of Americans are facing a looming
health care cliff, this legislation fails to address the
urgent reality before Congress. Without action to extend the
Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits, families
will see sharp premium increases or lose coverage altogether.
Instead of advancing meaningful solutions to protect coverage
and affordability, this bill puts the health and financial
security of millions at risk and would make health care less
affordable.
This bill prioritizes the expansion of Association Health
Plans (AHPs), coverage arrangements that are exempt from key
Affordable Care Act consumer protections. Rather than
strengthening coverage, AHPs have a documented history of
insolvency, inadequate coverage, and higher out-of-pocket
costs for workers and families. These plans allow employers
and self-employed individuals to band together outside the
ACAs regulated markets and pull healthier individuals out of
comprehensive coverage, weaken insurance risk pools, and
increase costs for those who remain.
While we appreciate that the bill includes provisions to
improve transparency and oversight of pharmacy benefit
managers (PBMs), these reforms are overshadowed by other
provisions that undermine comprehensive coverage and
affordability. PBM transparency is important and should be
included as part of a broader package to extend the ACA
enhanced premium tax credits, not used to advance policies
that weaken consumer protections.
Congress already has a clear and workable solution, a
three-year, clean extension of the ACA enhanced premium tax
credits. This would prevent premium spikes, protect coverage
for millions, and provide families with much needed certainty
before Congress recesses for the holidays.
AFSCME urges Congress to vote no on the Lower Health Care
Premiums for All Americans Act and instead act swiftly to
extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, ensuring access
to affordable, quality health care for millions of Americans.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth S. Watson,
Director of Federal Government Affairs.
____________________