The LIBRE Initiative urges a “NO” VOTE on the $30 Billion Dollar Schumer Obamacare Bailout Bill

Arlington, VA — Today, The LIBRE Initiative, the nation’s largest center-right Hispanic organization, announced it has sent a letter to the U.S. Senate urging lawmakers to reject efforts to extend the costly COVID-era enhanced premium tax credits — warning that doing so woul worsen fraud, fuel wasteful spending, and harm working-class Latino families.

The letter reads:

The Honorable Members of the United States Senate United States Capitol Building Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senators,

The LIBRE Initiative, the country’s largest center-right Hispanic organization, writes to express its strong and unequivocal opposition to any legislative effort, including the proposed “Schumer bailout,” to extend the costly, $30+ billion annual COVID-era enhanced premium tax credits. Allowing these subsidies to expire, as scheduled, is a critical first step toward restoring fiscal sanity and enacting thoughtful, patient-focused health care reform that truly serves working-class Americans, especially the millions of Latino families we represent.

The core mission of The LIBRE Initiative is to advocate for policies that empower individuals and expand opportunity, and our position is directly informed by the deep concerns of the Latino community across the country. An extensive 2025 poll conducted by our sister organization, The LIBRE Institute, revealed a resounding mandate for change, with 78% of Latinos identifying the rising costs of health care as a major concern. Furthermore, an overwhelming 92% noted that health care companies were squeezing taxpayers through these programs, and over 88% urgently want Congress to prioritize eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse within the system. There is nearly unanimous agreement, at an astoundingly high 96%, that Congress must prioritize providing patients with greater health care service flexibility and programs that allow for Health Savings Account (HSA) expansion and other customizable options to care.

The premium tax credit expansion has regrettably become a bloated, bureaucratic monstrosity, operating as a $30 billion annual special interest bailout of insurance companies and the wealthy, funded by the taxes of millions of working-class Latinos. The instability created by the pandemic allowed for excessive abuses facilitated by the Biden administration, with enrollment data suggesting that nearly 6.4 million Americans were underreporting their incomes to qualify for programs not meant for them, indicating widespread fraud facilitated by lax oversight. This is particularly egregious because in the most extreme cases, families making over $128,000 a year, meaning 400% over the federal poverty level, could enroll and take advantage of these subsidies, forcing the average Latino family—making just $70,000 a year—to compete for services with individuals earning nearly twice their income.

Collectively, the federal government spends over $125 billion a year in health care tax credit handouts to insurance companies; yet, these insurers refuse to pass meaningful savings to patients and still deny on average one out of every five medical claims. These programs have not only failed to make health care affordable but have also led to the average family insurance plan costing $27,000 a year and forcing everyday Americans to pay thousands in out-of-pocket costs due to astronomically high deductibles. These programs desperately need thoughtful reform and more spending will not solve this issue.

The LIBRE Initiative views a vote to extend these credits as a vote to continue wasting taxpayer money irresponsibly and to actively dilute quality health care for working-class Americans. We urge a decisive “NO” vote on any measure that would extend these disastrous subsidies. To best serve the needs of everyday Americans and the growing Latino electorate, we urge you to let these temporary, COVID-era credits expire and immediately return to the drawing board to focus on enacting real, thoughtful, and bipartisan policies that put patients in control, bring price transparency to medical costs, and expand health care options that allow patients to shop for the health care that best suits them and their familias.

Sincerely,

The LIBRE Initiative