US House minority leader urges Republicans to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday accused Republicans of refusing to engage on a bipartisan solution to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, warning that millions of were days away from steep increases in their healthcare premiums.

"Republicans are continuing to bury their heads in the sand, completely and totally uninterested in finding common ground to make life better for the American people, in this instance, by extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits," Jeffries said at a news conference at Capitol Hill.

Jeffries said House Democrats remain “ready, willing and able” to negotiate “anytime, anyplace and anywhere” to protect health-care coverage for tens of millions of Americans and address what he called “the Republican health care crisis."

The Democratic leader emphasized that the chamber needs only a handful of Republican members to move forward.

"There are 220 of you. All we need are four Republicans to partner with us. Let's find a path forward, and we can extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits," he said.

Jeffries noted that only five legislative days remain before possibly substantial premium hikes could take hold if the credits expire. He criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson, saying Republicans had yet to introduce the healthcare plan he has been promising for months.

"We're all-hands-on-deck to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, but Mike Johnson hasn't reached out to us as Democrats to have a conversation about finding a path forward, which suggests to me Mike Johnson is not serious about protecting the health care of the American people," he said.