NEWS: Senator Blunt Rochester Joins Leader Schumer, Senate Democrats to Announce Plan to Lower Health Care Costs for Americans

The full press conference, including the Senator's remarks, can be viewed here.

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, today joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and fellow members of the Senate Democratic Caucus to announce Democrats' plan to address the rising cost of health care and extend the premium ACA tax credits. This comes just 26 days before those tax credits expire and premiums skyrocket for millions of Americans.

Earlier today, Senator Blunt Rochester and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Restoring Patient Protections and Affordability Act. The bill would renew the enhanced premium tax credits for three years, extend the 2026 Open Enrollment period, reduce paperwork for families, and lower out-of-pocket caps.

Below are excerpts of Senator Blunt Rochester's remarks:

"First, thank you, Leader Schumer, for inviting me to participate. It's really good to be here with two Senators who I had the honor of serving with on the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House. We did a lot of good work on prescription drugs, on health disparities, and a whole host of other issues…as I stand here, I'm literally thinking and watching the clock in front of me tick. The clock is ticking. Time is running out. There is a sense of urgency for those of us who are standing up here…"

"… As I stand here today, I think about the years of my work in this space of health. I served as Deputy Secretary of Health and Social Services in Delaware and got to see the impact of health care. I served as head of state personnel, so I saw health care from an employer perspective and how much it costs, and how do you keep people healthy. I served as CEO of the Urban League, so I got to see health disparities and how, in this country, as rich as we are, we have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. So, healthcare to me is a basic necessity…What we recognize is that the Affordable Care Act is not perfect. But one thing I do know is that that family who has somebody with a preexisting condition like asthma or diabetes is grateful. That parent who has a kid who's 22 or 23 is grateful. And so, what we're saying here is very simple. We have an immediate problem, an immediate crisis, an immediate cliff, and we need to take immediate action. And that's why we're proposing the three-year timeframe to allow us to also work with our Republican colleagues to make the substantial changes that we need to make us a healthier country and to make sure that we have a health care system that's working for all of us."

"I'm fortunate that I had the opportunity to also work with Senator Wyden on legislation, the [Restoring Patient Protections and Affordability Act], that focuses on not just the three years, but it is in tandem with this to make sure that some of the harmful things that were already done this year through the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' and through regulation are actually - are pulled back so that people, again, don't fall off a cliff and that we're making sure that they're able to navigate this system."

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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.