First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to all members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives today urging lawmakers to oppose the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act put forward by Sen. Bill Cassidy and any related proposals centered on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that would replace the expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits (PTCs). This legislation represents not a solution to rising health care costs, Campaign President Bruce Lesley writes, but a direct threat to the financial security and health coverage of millions of American children.
In addition, First Focus Campaign for Children strongly advises lawmakers to make the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) permanent. “The uncertainty surrounding the ACA subsidies illustrates the urgent need to guarantee long-term stability for children’s coverage,” Lesley writes. “We strongly advocate for and support making CHIP permanent in federal law. CHIP is the only federal insurance program subjected to repeated expiration – a situation that would be viewed as intolerable for other populations, as Congress would never subject millions of senior citizens to repeated expirations as occurred to CHIP in both 2007 and 2017.”