As someone living with heart disease, I’ve learned that the care needed to maintain my physical health can carry a significant price tag. For folks like me, premium tax credits (PTCs) have been an essential lifeline to help lower monthly payments in the individual marketplace.

Here in Pennsylvania, hundreds of thousands of people—many with chronic conditions like mine—purchase their own health care through the marketplace and rely on these tax credits to keep costs affordable. But these tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year. If lawmakers don’t act, millions more across the country will face unaffordable premiums, and millions more will lose their coverage entirely.

If Congress doesn’t extend PTCs before the end of the year, it won’t make a bit of difference for the millions who rely on them to afford care. Any tax savings they see will be wiped out by skyrocketing health insurance costs. They might even lose coverage altogether.

This isn’t theoretical. It’s about real people being able to go to a doctor they can afford. Congress must act now to extend premium tax credits and prevent a major health care tax hike on Pennsylvanians like me.

Stephen Brown
Feasterville, PA