With Trump and Republicans MIA from Washington, Senators Murphy, Smith, and Warren Meet with Floridians Hardest Hit by Republican Health Care Crisis

MIAMI, FL-Today, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) traveled to Miami, Florida to host a roundtable with Floridians struggling with the rising health care costs and massive coverage cuts caused by President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress.

While Trump throws lavish parties and House Republicans refuse to show up for work, Americans who rely on the ACA for health insurance are seeing their premiums double or triple. As the top market for ACA insurance coverage in the country, South Florida is the epicenter of this Republican-made crisis. According to estimates, nearly a third of the 4.7 million Floridians enrolled in ACA plans could lose coverage because of Donald Trump and Republicans' cuts to Medicaid and ACA tax credits.

Senators Murphy, Smith, and Warren sat down with Floridians who rely on the ACA tax credits, health care providers, and union members in Miami to hear the real-life consequences of Republicans' refusal to come to the table and negotiate an end to the government shutdown that lowers health care costs for working Americans.

Find excerpts of the roundtable discussion below:

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) emphasized the importance of traveling to Miami-Dade to speak to Floridians facing the most extreme impacts of Republicans' health care attacks: "Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington would rather shut down the government than help make health care affordable for more Americans. It's just that straightforward. We're here, particularly in Miami-Dade, because you're ground zero in absorbing the pain from the Republicans' cuts. You are the ones who will lose more people off health care altogether, and more people will see their premiums go up than any place else in the country."

Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) put a spotlight on Republicans' bankrupt priorities after they passed tax cuts for billionaires this summer while creating a health care crisis for everyday Americans: "Last summer, Donald Trump and Republicans passed the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' and in that bill, they found ways of drastically cutting Medicaid and they found ways of extending huge tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations. But what they couldn't figure out how to do is how to pass the affordable tax credits for the ACA that actually make health insurance affordable for regular people. And so, here we are at this moment, where people are opening up to shop on the exchange, and in some cases they're seeing that their costs are going up thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars a year, and people just can't afford it."

Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) outlined the stakes of the shutdown fight, demanding Republicans come to the table and work with Democrats to stop the devastating health care crisis they created: "This fight matters. As you know, the government is shut down right now, and what Democrats have said is that we want to get the government open, but not with an immoral budget that throws millions of people off their health care… If we're going to fund the government, let's fund a government that doesn't result in the kind of devastation of the health care system that is planned under the current trajectory. Are we going to help the billionaires and the corporations? Are we going to help regular people throughout the country?"

Scott Darius, the executive director of Florida Voices for Health, a nonprofit advocacy organization working to improve health care outcomes in the state, highlighted the millions in Florida who will suffer as a result of health care premium subsidies expiring: "We're in a really precarious moment in health care. I think for as long as I've been in this work, it's the one moment where we've had so many people at risk of losing their access to care, and that's a big deal. 4.7 million Floridians are enrolled in the marketplace. 1 million - over 1 million of them here in Miami-Dade County alone… so all of that to say: Florida, we're the epicenter. We're where things will get bad if we aren't able to extend these enhanced premium tax credits."

Francoise Cham, a single mom with a family history of heart disease, shared the impossible choice she faces with skyrocketing premium costs: "I'm a single mom, I'm self-employed, and before the ACA came about, I spent 25 years without insurance. I could never keep a nine-to-five job because I had to take care of my parents and a brother who was paralyzed. And in that process, I became a mother, so I have four people relying on me… The other day, I went online to check to see what my premium would be, and it went up by more than 250%. So now, I have to decide: food or my premium."

Kara Farley, a cancer survivor whose husband is diabetic, said she feared having to choose between her care or his: "I qualify for the ACA plan with a tax credit subsidy for myself and my husband. Prior to this, I didn't have insurance at all. Back in 2008, I went through an ovarian cancer diagnosis. I was diagnosed in an emergency room, where I went with pain symptoms. I had to have all of my treatment done without insurance, which sent me into medical debt for years. My husband is a type one diabetic who also suffers from seizures. .. In 2021, we qualified for a tax credit subsidy through the Affordable Care Act, and it has made an everlasting difference for us… My husband hasn't been to the emergency room with a diabetic episode in over four years… I did check the marketplace and our insurance is going up double what we're paying now… I honestly don't know where we'll find that extra money in our budget, and I don't want to be back in a position where we're trying to decide if I can get treatment or my husband does."

Seth Grossman, a husband, father, and small business owner, whose wife was diagnosed with cancer, shared his uncertainty over maintaining health care coverage for his family after finding out his premiums will cost an additional $18,000 next year: "[I] became a chronic health patient, somebody with chronic heart disease, compounded then by diabetes as well…And then about a year later, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer - fortunately one that was treatable… She was able to access quality health care. Somewhere around this time as well, was the time where my wife's then current employment ended, and we needed to find some way to cover health insurance. The most obvious choice, ACA, even at that time was very expensive, more than we were used to with an employer-based health plan. But we made it work… Somehow, some way, we've been making it up to this point. I'm not sure what we're going to do next… $4,500 a month is more than our mortgage."