U.S. Representative Jeff Hurd introduced a bipartisan bill that would extend for two years enhanced premium tax credits for people who buy health insurance on the individual market.

The Bipartisan Healthcare Optimization, Protection, and Extension Act, or the HOPE Act, also adds an income cap for the tax credits, so enrollees who make less than $200,000 a year for a family of four would be eligible for the credits. The credits would be phased out for families of four that make between $200,000 and $300,000.

The enhanced premium tax credits implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were initially set to expire in 2022, but Congress extended and expanded them with the Inflation Reduction Act. In the absence of those enhanced federal subsidies, the average cost to purchase health insurance through Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s individual marketplace, will more than double next year.

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Extending the credits was a key point of contention between Democrats, who argued for an extension, and Republicans in Congress while they tried to pass a funding bill to reopen the federal government during the recent shutdown.

“I joined this bipartisan effort because doing nothing would leave too many families in rural communities facing unaffordable increases that they cannot absorb,” Hurd, a Republican, said in a statement. “The HOPE Act provides a temporary, responsible extension of the current premium tax credits so families do not see sudden cost spikes through no fault of their own.”

Hurd, of Grand Junction, represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses Colorado’s Western Slope and the southwest corner of the state, sweeping east to include Pueblo, Otero and Las Animas counties.

Hurd sponsored the HOPE Act alongside U.S. Representatives Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat, Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, and Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat. The bill was introduced Friday.

The measure also intends to add guardrails against fraud, including penalties for agents and brokers who provide false information and a requirement for individual marketplaces to confirm enrollee eligibility with the Social Security Administration death records.

“The HOPE Act is a practical, bipartisan solution that maintains affordability, enhances transparency, and improves accountability while Congress works toward long-term reforms that will make our health-care system more stable and more affordable,” Hurd said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised Democrats that a floor vote on an extension of the tax credits will occur in December, part of a deal struck with seven Democrats and one independent to advance a spending bill to reopen the federal government, despite it not including an extension of enhanced premium tax credits.