Wednesday’s government shutdown is threatening catastrophic healthcare cost increases for millions of Americans.
Within hours after the New York senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer warned that without healthcare subsidies insurance costs will skyrocket.
The Democrats are holding the line on extending the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) boosted subsidies expiring at the end of the year. They also want to reverse Medicaid and other healthcare cuts enacted in July under the Republican mega bill.
“It's about preventing a family from having to choose between making rent payments and having health care,” said Gillibrand who voted no on the Republicans proposed budget. “It's about helping the working parent who needs ACA subsidies to afford their child's life-saving medication. It's about supporting the small business owner who shouldn't have to sacrifice their own income to offer their employees good health insurance.”
Speaking on the senate floor Wednesday only hours after the deadline passed, senate minority leader Schumer asked his colleagues what happens to the average American family during the shutdown.
“Especially when they see that their insurance – health insurance, vital to the parents and the children of the family – could be a thousand dollars more a month,” he asked his fellow law makers. “The average American can't afford $1000 a month, or even $400 a month, without cutting back on their healthcare or cutting back on something else that's vital.”
With the House, Senate, and Executive Branch controlled by the Republican party, Schumer said the American healthcare system is in the GOP’s hands.
“Three times we asked our Republican colleagues to extend the ACA tax credit. Three times they voted no. Well, it's not too late. They could change.”
According to the US Department of the Treasury nearly 50 million Americans have been covered by the Affordable Care Act since 2014. A September report by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed a lapse in the ACA tax credits could increase premiums by more than 75% on average, and 90% in rural areas.
