Patient Groups Applaud Major Improvements in Health Care Affordability – and Call for Further Progress

National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF) joined 27 other organizations representing millions of patients and consumers across the United States to release the following statement after Congressional passage of the Inflation Reduction Act:

Our organizations have consistently urged Congress to act on two urgent priorities for patients: extending the enhanced advance premium tax credits (APTCs) enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan and closing the Medicaid coverage gap. Today, we welcome the key progress on one of those priorities in the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

This legislation takes important steps towards ensuring patients and consumers can afford the high-quality health insurance they need to manage illness and improve their health. By extending the enhanced APTCs for an additional three years, Congress will provide patients the security of knowing health coverage will remain within research. On behalf of millions of patients nationwide, we applaud this important action and look forward to working with Congress to continue to extend these tax credits and explore other ideas to improve affordability of insurance healthcare in the coming month and years.

While our organizations welcome the extension of APTCs, we are disappointed that this legislation fails to take any steps to address the Medicaid coverage gap. This omission leave more than 2 million people without access to quality health insurance. Congress has missed an opportunity to permanently resolve this serious problem that directly affects the health of those living in states that refused to expand Medicaid on their own.

Our commitment to the communities we represent is steadfast. As we support the Inflation Reduction Act’s important investments in the health of our country, we also know that our work is not complete. We will continue to advocate to ensure that everyone, including those people and families that fall in the coverage gap, have equitable access to affordable high-quality health insurance.

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Heart Association
American Kidney Fund
American Liver Foundation
American Lung Association
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Cancer Support Community
CancerCare
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Hemophilia Federation of America
Immune Deficiency Foundation
Lupus Foundation of America
March of Dimes
Muscular Dystrophy Association
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Eczema Association
National Health Council
National Hemophilia Foundation
National Kidney Foundation
National Organization for Rare Disorders
National Patient Advocate Foundation
National Psoriasis Foundation
Pulmonary Hypertension Association
Susan G. Komen
The AIDS Institute
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Mended Hearts, Inc.
WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease