Duckworth SOTU Guest Delivers Powerful, Emotional Testimony Detailing How His Health Insurance Bill Quadrupled After Trump Let ACA Tax Credits Expire

Duckworth SOTU Guest Delivers Powerful, Emotional Testimony Detailing How His Health Insurance Bill Quadrupled After Trump Let ACA Tax Credits Expire

SOTU Guest: "Our Insurance Costs Have Quadrupled in the Past Two Months…There Are Thousands of Us Suffering in Silence"

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth's (D-IL) State of the Union guest, Jeremy Schumacher of Carbondale, Illinois, delivered powerful testimony about how the Trump Administration's devastating health care cuts-combined with the rising costs of groceries and other everyday necessities-have made it nearly impossible for his family to make ends meet. Mr. Schumacher, the primary source of income for his household, saw his health insurance deductible increase by $11,000 after Trump and Republicans allowed ACA enhanced premium tax credits to expire-forcing him into an impossible situation where he has decided to forgo his own health care to afford the care his disabled wife needs. Video of Mr. Schumacher's testimony is available on the Senator's YouTube and photos of him and Duckworth together are available on the Senator's website.

Key Quotes:

• "I'm here because of the pain of checking the mail. We never know if the next bill coming is the one that is going to put us in bankruptcy or make us lose our house…Our insurance costs quadrupled in the past two months. We went from a $5,000 deductible to a $16,400 deductible. So on a single income, I have chosen to not go to the doctor because once we hit my wife's deductible-which last year we would have hit already at $1,500 in two months that has been spent-now we have an additional $3,000 to go to hit her deductible, before we even start mine."

• "I just went to the doctor for the first time this week and found out I have diabetes. The amount of money…the testing, the X-rays that I got, I will never be able to pay for them. I already cannot pay for them…It's not a Republican or Democratic question-it's an everyday American question. There are thousands of us suffering in silence."

• "If it was just health care, it'd be one thing. But everything has gone up. Our electricity bill has gone up 30 percent our food bill has gone up over 50 percent. We just cannot afford to live anymore."

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