INDIANAPOLIS – Hoosiers may be hoping for bigger refunds on tax day, but they’re likely to be disappointed when they file their taxes today after their health care premiums skyrocket thanks to the McConnell tax plan and GOP sabotage of the health care markets.

Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a report stating that health care premiums are expected to rise as much as 34% this year, due primarily to steps Republicans have taken through the McConnell tax plan that will cause 13 million Americans to go without health care in the next decade. Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration have also taken further actions to destabilize the market, including withholding crucial subsidies used to keep premiums down for low-income Hoosiers.

The working Hoosiers filing today and hoping to see a bigger refund will likely see any additional savings eaten up by their rising premiums. The same can’t be said for the insurance companies raising their rates, however; the McConnell tax plan contains new tax breaks helping those insurance companies rake in billions of dollars in additional profits.

“In 2018, tax day may well come at least twice for Hoosiers – today when they file, and again in the fall when they face their new premiums that have skyrocketed thanks to the McConnell tax plan,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Republicans like Congressmen Messer and Rokita and Rep. Braun will get a poor return for gifting billions of dollars in profits this tax season to the same insurance companies who’re raising premiums on Hoosiers by as much as a third.”

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