LEADER JEFFRIES: "HEALTHCARE PREMIUMS, CO-PAYS AND DEDUCTIBLES ARE ABOUT TO SKYROCKET"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference where he emphasized that Democrats are ready to negotiate an end to the government shutdown that lowers healthcare costs at any time, but Republicans are nowhere to be found.
LEADER JEFFRIES: It's day three of the Trump Republican government shutdown and day 257 of the chaos that Donald Trump has been inflicting on the American people since the very beginning of his presidency. We're in the midst of a government shutdown that has been caused by Donald Trump and Republicans to inflict further pain on the American people. The government is shut down right now because Donald Trump and Republicans refuse to provide healthcare to working-class Americans.
Throughout this week, Donald Trump has been missing in action. He remains in the presidential witness protection program. House Republicans are on vacation all across the country and the world, and Senate Republicans continue to vote on the same partisan Republican spending bill that's dead on arrival because it guts the healthcare of the American people. Donald Trump and the Republicans are not behaving responsibly. They're not behaving in a serious manner. They don't want to reopen the government. And they certainly do not want to address the healthcare crisis that Republicans have created throughout this year, including as it relates to their One Big Ugly Bill that hurts everyday Americans in order to reward their billionaire donors.
Democrats made clear, including at the White House meeting on Monday, that healthcare premiums, co-pays and deductibles are about to skyrocket for tens of millions of Americans all across the country in an environment where the cost of living in this country is already too high. Donald Trump has already made life more expensive because of his tariffs and failed Republican policies. But that cost of living crisis is about to get worse particularly as it relates to healthcare costs.
Here are just three examples as it relates to the types of skyrocketing healthcare costs that everyday Americans are about to confront. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, by way of example, just one plan. Currently, this healthcare plan costs an everyday American, a working-class American, $595.94 a month. But because Republicans refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credit, that same plan is going to go up to $1890 per month. How is that possible for working families to afford? That's in Virginia.
In Idaho, Silver plan, currently available for $611 per month. But it's now public information that because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, that same plan currently $611 per month will go up to $2083 a month in an environment where America is already too expensive, where the cost of living is already too high, where the Trump tariffs are already imposing thousands of dollars per year of additional costs. And now, healthcare costs are about to skyrocket out of control.
One final example. In Georgia, the Heart of Dixie, in the deep South, current Silver HMO plan from Kaiser Permanente. Currently, it costs $699 per month. But because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, that same plan currently $699 per month is about to skyrocket to $2763 a month. This is going to cause medical bankruptcy for some and millions of others will be unable to afford the healthcare that they need for themselves, their children and their families.
This is why. This is why we need to deal with the Republican healthcare crisis right now. Because the crisis is having real impact on working-class Americans right now. And the notion that there's time to wait—think about this—that Republicans spent all year focused on their One Big Ugly Bill so they can permanently extend massive tax breaks for the wealthy, the well-off and the well connected, for their billionaire donors, in order to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. That's what they've done all year. And these tax breaks for the wealthy and the well-off, they were scheduled to expire on December 31st. But they spent months obsessed with rewarding their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks. But now claim that the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which expire at the same time as those tax breaks for their wealthy friends, no, they can't be bothered. They can't be bothered with extending them right now. Why is this? Because Republicans just want to gut healthcare for the American people. And Democrats will continue to stand on the side of the American people, fight for their healthcare, and improve their quality of life.
Full press availability can be watched here.