ICYMI Video: Democratic Senators Sound the Alarm on Republicans' Health Care Crisis, Underscore Impact of Premium Cliff on Red States

[WASHINGTON, DC] - In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led fellow Democratic Senators in speaking on the Senate Floor about the health care crisis facing millions of Americans due to Republicans' refusal to extend enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans. The Senators underscored how higher premiums will impact Americans across Red and Blue states and called out President Trump and Republicans for blocking Democratic efforts to lower costs for families.

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined Blumenthal in speaking on the Floor.

"A 60-year-old couple living in Raleigh, making $85,000 a year, currently pays $89 for the least expensive plan. Without these credits, they're going to be paying $1,893 per month. Same plan, same coverage, nothing better, just more money that is charged to people," said Blumenthal. "Republicans know that these increases are going to crush hardworking Americans. It is ludicrous to expect any American enrolled in one of these plans to have the disposable income to keep their coverage. This is not a partisan issue. I can't say it often enough. This is about ensuring that every American - regardless of their zip code or their income level or their partisan affiliation - has access to health insurance coverage they need to guarantee they can live healthy and productive lives."

"Last week, we learned from the Department of Insurance in Illinois that Illinois residents can expect to see a nearly 80 percent average cost increase for their Affordable Care Act health plans next year-virtually doubling in the northern part of the state, tripling in the southern part of the state. Why? Because Republicans in Congress refuse to sit down with any Democrats and negotiate an extension of a crucial policy that helps tens of millions of Americans afford their health insurance," said Durbin.

"Republicans passed this big, beautiful bill at the beginning of the year which intentionally sets our health care system on a death spiral. You can't pull $2 trillion out of the American health care system without parts of it collapsing - massive cuts to Medicaid, massive cuts to the Affordable Care Act, cuts to funding that goes to nursing homes. Seventeen million people losing their health care. A couple million immediately because of these Affordable Care Act subsidy cuts, but over time, 17 million people. That is a cataclysm. The reason we're shut down is because Republicans are refusing to negotiate with Democrats over our reasonable demand that we just make the pain of the big, beautiful bill a little bit less acute this fall, when premiums are scheduled to go up on American families by thousands of dollars. These people are worth fighting for. This principle that the government shouldn't exist to transfer money from the poor and the middle class, to the wealthy and the powerful, is a principle that is worth fighting for," said Murphy.

President Trump and Republicans have refused to work with Democrats to extend premium tax credits that have helped millions of Americans afford health insurance. Now with open enrollment underway, Americans across the country are staring down increased insurance rates that are set to double and even triple-including 18.7 million ACA marketplace enrollees in Red states. Coupled with Republicans' Medicare and Medicaid cuts that are set to go into effect next year, Americans are bracing for higher costs and a looming health care crisis that will put millions at risk of going uninsured.

The full video of the Senators' remarks on the Senate Floor can be found here.

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1. Health Care