Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs

Summary#

This bill repeals Subtitle B of title VII of the 2025 reconciliation act (Public Law 119-21) that dealt with health matters. It also changes the rules for the premium tax credit in the tax code. The bill removes the phrase that limited premium tax credit eligibility to households at or below 400 percent of the poverty line. It replaces the old income-related share rules with a new table of "applicable percentages". The table sets a sliding scale for how much of a household's income counts as the premium share across income tiers (for example, 0% up to 150% of poverty and 8.5% at 400% and higher). The bill makes several conforming edits to section 36B and takes effect for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.

What it means for you#

• People with household incomes above 400% of the poverty line could become eligible for premium tax credits because the bill removes the previous 400% limit.
• The share of your income used to calculate the premium tax credit will follow a sliding scale by income tier. The table in the bill shows how the percentage rises within each tier: 0% up to 150% of poverty; 0% to 2.0% for 150–200%; 2.0% to 4.0% for 200–250%; 4.0% to 6.0% for 250–300%; 6.0% to 8.5% for 300–400%; and 8.5% for 400% and higher.
• These changes affect how much people pay for marketplace health plan premiums and who can receive tax credits starting with 2026 tax years.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on estimated federal costs or savings is included in the bill text provided. The bill does specify the new income-share percentages used to calculate premium tax credits (see "What it means for you").

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.