January 23, 2026 08:41 AM UTC

Evans Caps His Evolving Reasons for Opposing ACA Tax Credits by Calling Them a ‘Failure’

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Originally posted at the Colorado Times Recorder

Soon after he voted against extending funds for an Obamacare program that helped lower health insurance premiums for over 200,000 Coloradans, U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) announced, “Extending that for three more years isn’t reform. It’s rewarding failure.”

It was perhaps the harshest language Evans has used to condemn the subsidies, emerging after the congressman had been tossing out an evolving string of reasons for his distaste for the program.

At various times, not in chronological order, Evans has objected to the subsidies 1) based on his opposition to alleged waste, fraud, and abuse, 2) because the funds are allegedly going to undocumented immigrants, 3) because the money was ramrodded into law by Democrats who created the mess by setting the expiration date in the first place, 4) because the absence of the subsidies won’t cause premiums to increase much anyway, and 5) because the subsidies are allegedly for wealthy people.

Evans’ explanations for his stance look familiar to Natasha Murphy, director of health policy at the progressive Center for American Progress. She has tracked Republicans in Congress deploying these arguments as the battle over whether to extend the funds played out in Washington.

“The fact that they have not been able to have a cohesive, singular message that stood up over time really speaks to the fact that when the average person learns the basics of the tax credits, they realize … that the tax credits were allowing people to have coverage, to afford their monthly premiums,” said Murphy. “And the proof is in the pudding, the fact that for four years straight, there was unprecedented market growth because folks were able to afford their coverage.”

Here’s more about what Evans has said about the subsidies, called the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits and originally passed by Democrats during the pandemic:

Rotten With Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: “We can and must expand access to health care, but without wasting billions of Americans’ hard-earned dollars. Accountability matters,” said Evans in January, repeating accusations made multiple times in the congressional fight over Medicaid cuts. Affordable Care Act proponents say the argument is vastly overblown. Last week in an appearance on OANN, Evans claimed without evidence that Democrats intentionally built loopholes for fraud into the ACA tax credits:

OANN Host Riley Lewis: “…the federal government can get a 100% success rate on fraud. It really makes you think. Even more frustrating, our next guest today notes that this isn’t a glitch in the system, it’s a feature of it. We’re talking about reused social security numbers and tax credits flowing to applicants who’ve been deceased for years.

Gabe Evans: “you highlighted all the big talking points there. We know that health care is important for people, but we also know that the way Democrats structured these enhanced premium tax credits during COVID, — let’s be honest, these are COVID era tax credits — they fill them full of loopholes that can be used for fraud, waste, and abuse.”

A Gift for “Illegal Immigrants:” “These subsidies that Democrats are talking about are going to illegal immigrants,” said Evans on Fox 31 in October. “If we want to get the cost of healthcare down in Colorado, we have to stop paying for illegal immigrants. We have to stop being a sanctuary city and state, and we have to cut the red tape and regulations in Colorado that is strangling our economy to include healthcare.” Undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible for the Obamacare tax credits.

The Democrats’ Fault: Evans has argued that Democrats, using “smoke and mirrors,” created the requirement to renew the subsidies by setting an expiration date for them. “Republicans didn’t have anything to do with this,” he told Denver 7 in November.” Murphy at the Center for American Progress says it was not a policy failure for the Democrats to set an expiration date and pass the bill as they did. “It’s a procedural process for so much regulation,” she said.

For the Rich. Evans complained that the subsidies were being chewed up by people making as much as $500,000 per year — and that people making $50,000 – $80,000 were paying for it. Evans inflated the income of people eligible for the subsidy.

No Big Deal. Evans dismissed the concerns about the subsidies. Most Obamacare premiums will only go up by “$50 per month or less,” he told Fox 31 in October. The increase is actually over $1,000 per year, or about $85 per month.

To Adam Fox, deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, none of Evans’ arguments reflects the “reality” that Coloradans who buy insurance via the marketplace will see their premiums spike.

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen Representative Evans vote consistently to take health coverage away from people and make it less affordable, and his objections that he has raised over time don’t reflect the reality that the end of the enhanced premium tax credits is raising premiums for Coloradans, whether low, moderate, or higher income, by an average of 100%.”

Evans office didn’t respond to a request for comment, but he has offered what he sees as alternatives to the subsidies. One is legislation, called the “Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act,” which would knock 100,000 people off the health insurance rolls annually while reducing “gross benchmark premiums” by 11%, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Evans also likes Trump’s idea of sending the Obamacare subsidies to people in the form of direct payments, which could lead to the “death spiral” of the Obamacare marketplace, according to critics. Neither of these proposals is likely to be implemented.