Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Soaring Healthcare Costs As Open Enrollment Begins And Trump’s Refusal To Negotiate On The Healthcare Crisis Or To End The Republican Shutdown

Washington, D.C. - Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor about the severe healthcare "sticker shock" Americans are facing during open enrollment, condemning President Trump's dismissive attitude toward rising costs, worsening inflation, and the continued government shutdown. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

It was a bitter, stressful weekend for millions of Americans, but you'd never guess it listening to Donald Trump.

Let's start with open enrollment, which began Saturday. If you look at the papers this weekend, the phrase that everyone used was "sticker shock." While Donald Trump is bragging about remodeling bathrooms at the White House, Americans are panicking about how they will afford healthcare next year. I read an article from ABC News that interviewed a photographer from Utah who gets her healthcare through the ACA. She will go from paying $495 a month, already outrageous, to $2,100 a month - an increase more than four times. That is more than her mortgage. And that is Donald Trump's America: Americans pay more for healthcare than they do on their mortgage. It's outrageous and it just puts a financial anchor around the ankles of every family.

And what is Donald Trump doing in the middle of all this? This horrible sticker-shock crisis that people are just feeling so awful about?

Well, if you watched Donald Trump this weekend on 60 Minutes, you saw a president utterly dismissive of the pain his policies have caused working people. While people are paying more for everyday expenses, Donald Trump went on TV to insist that everything is fine.

He claimed - yet again - that we have "no inflation" in this country. The only problem - that's a lie! President Trump: talk to the average American and tell them they have no inflation, as they're paying for more everything - particularly this weekend, when they learned how much more they're paying for healthcare. And inflation has actually accelerated since the start of Trump's trade war.

Donald Trump also celebrated that grocery prices are "going down." Which grocery store was he shopping in? Probably none. When Donald Trump celebrates grocery prices going down, it's a surprise to people who actually shop at grocery stores because they're seeing prices go up and up and up.

And when Donald Trump was asked what he is doing to end the shutdown, he said the usual nonsense: it's the other side's fault. Utterly ridiculous. Donald Trump is the president. People look to him to negotiate and to fix problems.

Finally, I will note this: Donald Trump was also asked several times what his plan is for fixing healthcare. And what was his answer? Pure gibberish because he doesn't have a plan to fix healthcare. The only plan Republicans have on healthcare seems to be to eliminate it and then tell working people to figure it out on their own. That's not a healthcare plan. That is cruel. But it's what Republicans have tried to do with healthcare for decades. We all remember the moment when John McCain rebuked his party to preserve it.

Democrats have been very clear from the start: we need to lower people's healthcare costs. We need to reopen the government. And we need to extend the ACA premium tax credits. That is what a majority of Americans want.

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