Republicans’ Cowardly Refusal to Extend ACA Subsidies Will Mean Millions Go Without Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a Democrat-offered proposal to do a clean 3 year extension of the ACA health insurance subsidies that expire at the end of the month. They will also vote on a competing proposal from Senators Crapo and Cassidy which would do away with the ACA credits altogether and put those funds into health savings accounts.
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement in advance of the votes:
“Republican leaders in Congress have been playing political games with our health care for far too long. Just this year, they passed their disastrous, party-line big-ugly bill that slashed Medicaid health care coverage for 17 million people and shut down the government in order to avoid dealing with the expiration of Obamacare subsidies, which will hike premiums for millions and mean a loss of coverage for another 4 million.
“The Trump-induced affordability crisis is hitting families hard. And skyrocketing health care premiums in January will only make the crisis worse. Families should not have to choose between heating their homes, putting food on the table, and taking their kids to the doctor.
“A vote for a straightforward extension of the ACA tax credit should be a no-brainer, but instead the GOP have coalesced around the Crapo-Cassidy plan which does little to address the spikes that ACA marketplace enrollees will face come January 1, and would further increase out-of-pocket costs over time. The Crapo-Cassidy plan is a step away from the core idea of insurance, which is that we all pitch in to make sure everyone gets access to the care they need. Doubling down on the worst of our current system, it suggests that people should get only the care they can afford, assisted only by a chintzy public contribution.
“Tomorrow’s votes require members to answer a simple question: do you want to make life a little easier for your constituents, or significantly harder? Republicans seem not to know the answer.”