Video: ICYMI: Iowa Farmers Union President, Wisconsin Chef & Small Business Owner Call for Extension of ACA Premium Tax Credits
[WASHINGTON, DC] – In case you missed it, Aaron Lehman, a fifth-generation farmer from Polk County, Iowa, and Dan Jacobs, a chef and restaurant owner from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, testified yesterday about the importance of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and called for the extension of enhanced premium tax credits for marketplace plans at a hearing in the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI).
The hearing, convened by Senate Republicans before they voted to allow health care premiums to skyrocket for millions of Americans, was aimed at undermining the ACA and weakening protections for patients with marketplace plans. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of PSI, invited Lehman and Jacobs to serve as the Minority’s witnesses for the hearing and share their stories.
Lehman, the president of the Iowa Farmers Union, testified about the importance of the ACA for rural communities, “Our farmers have been telling us that the Affordable Care Act has been one of the best investments in rural health care in decades. For farming families, entrepreneurs, and employees of small businesses who don’t offer health insurance as a benefit, the ACA has expanded coverage, lowered cost, and encouraged farmers and rural residents to take more risks and make more investments on their farms and in their communities. I know this well because my family has benefited from having access to the ACA marketplace and insurance policies, and the affordability provided by the enhanced premium tax credits.”
Lehman also shared his concerns about how expiring enhanced premium tax credits will make health insurance unaffordable for him and his family, “Affordable health care coverage has been a game changer. But unfortunately, my wife and I have learned that in order to keep a similar policy in 2026, our health insurance costs will more than double. This affordability issue comes at a time when farmers like me are facing enormous challenges. Trade tensions have led to lower prices for what we grow and sell, at a time when we have higher costs for all of those inputs we purchase. The strained labor market has driven up our costs even further, and USDA cuts have led to increased uncertainty about the programs we depend on. Farmers and farm-lenders alike report the increased challenges of financing next year's crop, Farmer concern and mental health hotlines have increased volumes of calls from farmers under serious stress.”
At the hearing, Jacobs testified about the importance of the ACA for small business owners, “I’m here today to express in the clearest possible terms, the Affordable Care Act is essential to the survival of small businesses like mine and to the health and security of the people we employ. The ACA leveled the playing field that has long been tilted against small employers. Before its passage, small businesses struggled to compete with large corporations for talent because we couldn’t access the same expansive insurance pools or negotiate the same affordable rates. When that happens, workers suffer, families suffer, and small businesses lose the ability to attract and retain the kind of skilled, committed employees who keep our industries strong.”
Jacobs continued, “The ACA is the reason I can continue to work in my small business, continue to contribute to my community as a small business owner and continue to employ the dozens of people who rely on me. It ensures that entrepreneurs with chronic or rare conditions still have the right to build something meaningful. It is not an abstract policy issue. It is the reason people like me can remain part of the workforce and the economy.”
The full video of Lehman’s testimony at yesterday’s hearing is available here. The full video of Jacobs’s testimony at yesterday’s hearing is available here.
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