By Gloria Rebecca Gomez | AZ Mirror
Nearly 400,000 Arizonans pay less each month for health insurance because of premium tax credits from the federal government as part of the Affordable Care Act, but the funding for those credits is set to expire at the end of this year. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are so far refusing to extend them.
The expansion of the tax credits, along with a repeal of the cuts to Medicaid included in the first federal budget, are at the heart of the disagreement between Republicans and Democrats that has left Congress and Trump careening toward a government shutdown. Unless a funding plan is in place by Oct. 1, multiple federal agencies and programs will be forced to stop work.
Congressional Republicans have refused to negotiate with Democrats — a tactic Trump has urged — so Democrats have said they won’t support the spending plan that is currently before Congress.
Related: Nearly 5 million Americans could become uninsured if lawmakers don’t extend subsidies
