Hakeem Jeffries Warns ACA Subsidies Lapse Will Hurt Red States the Most

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has warned that a lapse in healthcare tax credits will hurt Americans in red states the most as he railed against Republicans who he claims are “refusing” to extend the subsidies.

Despite the debate over the subsidies, which raged throughout the 43-day government shutdown, the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) remains in limbo. The same goes for the subsidies, or tax credits that help people pay for the cost of premiums. The subsidies were introduced by the Obama administration and enhanced under the Biden administration to widen eligibility for low-income households.

During an appearance on MS NOW’s Morning Joe on Tuesday, co-host Willie Geist pointed out that some key Republican figures, “chief among them” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), were “putting pressure on the White House and the Congress to preserve” the subsidies.

“Are you confident that will happen for the American people, not just for Democrats, but for American people across the political spectrum who rely on those subsidies?” Geist asked.

Jeffries replied: “That’s an important point that this fight for us is not a partisan one — it’s a patriotic one.”

He added: “And in fact, the states that will be most impacted if the Affordable Care Act tax credits are allowed to expire, are all states that are run by Republicans. We’re talking about West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Mississippi, Tennessee being the top five states. I think the next five states are Texas and South Carolina, Alabama, North Dakota, and South Dakota. And so we’re fighting to protect the health care of the American people.”

Rounding on Republicans, he blasted the party that he said continues “to refuse to take yes for an answer.”

“Leader [Chuck] Schumer presented a very reasonable proposal during the midst of the Trump-Republican shutdown, which is a one-year extension and then a bipartisan commission so we can find a path forward to fix our broken health care system in a more comprehensive way,” he said. “They’ve rejected it.”

Now, he said, House Democrats were demanding “a straight three-year extension to give the American people the certainty that they need while working on these broader health care issues that need to be addressed.”

Watch above via MS NOW.