New York’s 19th Congressional District Representative Josh Riley, alongside a bipartisan House member coalition, introduced CommonGround2025 on Dec. 4. It’s a two-year bill to extend the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits (ePTCs) and keep healthcare affordable in New York.
The COVID pandemic-era ACA tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year, which could leave more than 450,000 New Yorkers facing premium hikes of more than $10,000 annually.
Rep. Riley, whose congressional district includes Sullivan, Ulster, and Delaware counties, said that many working-class upstate New Yorkers are struggling to keep up with bills.
“NYSEG is trying to jack up rates again. We’re fighting them. The grocery bills are still too high, and now all of a sudden, folks are facing an increase in the health insurance premiums,” said Riley. “It all goes back to the greed in our economy and the corruption in our politics.”
The proposed bill is backed by 35 House Democrats and Republicans. Riley said that developing bipartisan solutions are necessary to sustain healthcare systems, especially in rural communities.
“ We’re all hearing from folks in our communities who are really struggling and are gonna get hurt by this. What can we do – setting aside the party politics – to try to fix it?” said Riley. “We came up with a pretty big bipartisan coalition and if we can get this done, it’s at least going to buy us some more time, and I think people deserve that.”
Another bipartisan coalition including Pennsylvania Rep. Rob Bresnahan introduced the ‘Bipartisan Health Insurance Affordability Act’ bill on Dec. 9, which also aims to prevent premium spikes. Riley says more bipartisan support shows more political will.
“All it takes is the politicians to set aside the partisan politics for a minute and do what’s right for upstate New Yorkers,” said Riley.
The Senate failed to advance both the Democratic and GOP-led healthcare proposals on Thursday, likely meaning that enhanced ACA tax credits will expire on Dec. 31.
Update: This article was updated on Dec. 11 to reflect the Senate’s failed vote to advance either rival healthcare proposals.
Image: Headshot of NY-19 Representative Josh Riley (Photo Credit: Josh Riley for Congress)
Representative Riley can also support the New York Health Act which is ready to go. It passed the NYS Assembly & the NYS Senate. Neither he nor Oberacker support this.
Riley supported a bill[Claudia Tenny’s] to shore up Medicare Advantage which is a huge rip off for seniors unlike standard Medicare.