Legislative Summary: S. 3385, Lower Health Care Costs Act

Sen. Schumer, D-NY

Summary: The bill revives for three years (i.e., for 2026, 2027, and 2028) the now-expired enhanced system of premium subsidies first enacted by Democrats as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2), and extended until the end of 2025 in the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169).

The below table compares the subsidy regime of Obamacare as enacted (i.e., current law subsidy levels) with the regime passed in ARPA and extended in the IRA, to which the bill would revert. All numbers are expressed as the maximum percentage of income a household would pay for benchmark coverage (i.e., the second-lowest cost silver plan), with the federal subsidy covering any difference.