“The estimated decline in benchmark premiums is the result of the expectation that people enrolling in the marketplaces would be healthier on average if the expanded premium tax credit were extended,” Swagel wrote. The enhanced premium tax credits, established by Democrats in 2021 as part of a massive COVID-19 relief package, were extended in 2022 through the Inflation Reduction Act. Extension late in the yearLawmakers taking action to extend the tax credits later in the year impacts CBO’s projections in two ways. “That includes a huge increase in health care costs as they slash the tax credits that so many families rely on. Obamacare’s traditional tax credits will operate as designed.”