FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 9, 2025
Credits Help Keep Health Care Affordable for 24 Million People
WASHINGTON, D.C.—A coalition of more than 300 faith leaders including NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Church Of God In Christ Social Justice Ministry, Faith in Action Network, Franciscan Action Network, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pax Christi USA, Sojourners, United Women in Faith, the United Methodist Church, and other national groups and local congregations across the country delivered a joint interfaith letter to Congress Monday, December 8. The faith leaders urged legislators to keep healthcare costs down by passing a bipartisan bill that protects and expands the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits to help keep health insurance affordable for 24 million people in the U.S. who receive their coverage through the ACA Marketplace.
From a faith perspective “each life is sacred, therefore, there is a moral imperative to provide care for the sick and alleviate suffering particularly for those who lack resources to pay,” the letter states. It also asserts that justice demands action to ensure everyone has “the health care they need to live and thrive, as people are currently making choices about coverage for 2026.”
Congress can keep healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for families struggling to put food on the table and a roof overhead, faith leaders say in the letter. The letter notes that renewing the tax credits will keep healthcare premiums under the ACA from spiking by an average of 114 percent in 2026. This would cause an estimated 4.8 million people to lose their health coverage because they cannot afford it. Subsequently, some 50,000 people could lose their lives without their health coverage.
Among those impacted, a person from Longview in Washington state, told the Coalition on Human Needs:
“My husband is a year out from being on Medicare. He gets his health care through the ACA. It went from $250 a month to $550 a month last year. Now it will go up to $2,560 a month. And that is before any medical bills. With the cost of everything, how can people afford that? My husband takes [medication] to avoid blood clots. We are very worried now.”
There is no time to waste, faith leaders concluded: “The choice to deny humanity, dignity, and justice to others—whether through active harm or passive neglect—is a moral failure. We call on each of you to meet this moment with compassion and courage to pass, protect and expand the enhanced ACA premium tax credits immediately.”
Read the full text of the letter and all signatories here.
Founded by Catholic Sisters in 1971, NETWORK is an inclusive, national, Catholic advocacy organization open to all who share our values, working for justice and equity for everyone. For 54 years, NETWORK has educated, organized, and lobbied for federal policies that serve the common good and honor the dignity of all people.
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