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Floor Speech
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Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, first of all, I want to thank my colleague from Rhode Island, and I join him in his advocacy for healthcare.
We are going into day 15 of the shutdown. No one likes shutdowns. And people ask me, Peter, why are you shut down? And my answer to them is that I don't like shutdowns, but things are worth fighting for. Some things we must fight for. And one of the things that are most essential to the well-being of the people we represent, whether it is a Republican State or a Democratic State, is access to affordable healthcare.
We have a date that is looming--November 1--where people are going to be getting, across this country, notifications about how much of an increase they will have to pay if they are getting tax support, tax credits, for them to buy their own insurance in the private marketplace. That is the urgency of the moment and why we must resolve this now. We must resolve this now.
On November 1, everyone will be getting the notice, but in many States, including Vermont, those notices are going out now, in October, and I want to show you what is going to happen to a Vermont family.
Keep in mind, this is a family of four where you have two parents that earn $130,000. They purchase healthcare through the private marketplace. Right now, that Vermont family pays $1,195, about $1,200 a month for their healthcare premium. That doesn't include copays and deductibles.
That is a big expense for that family, who has utility bills, who has rent or a mortgage, who is facing the inflation we see in the cost of food, groceries. They have kids in school, and always, some unexpected expense comes up when you have kids in school--a broken wrist, braces, a school trip.
That premium of $1,195 is going to increase to $3,035--$3,035--in 2026. That family can't afford it. Where does the money come from to pay for that healthcare?
You know, the poignancy of this was exemplified when a Vermonter was with me to talk about this. She has a family of four, two kids, and she asked herself: If there is this huge spike in premiums, as a mother, where I am responsible for the well-being of my two children, and it would be ``irresponsible''--her word--not to have healthcare for my kids, what do I do if I get a $2,000-a-month increase and I simply don't have the money to pay for it?
That is not a decision we should be imposing on the people in Missouri or the people in Vermont.
All of us who have the authority of being in the U.S. Senate and representing the people who sent us here should not allow that rate premium shock to crush that family.
By the way, this is not just this family in Vermont; this is families all across our country.
You know, if these tax premiums, these tax credits expire--and that is what they do--then we are going to see nearly 5 million people across this country, in the Presiding Officer's State and mine, lose their coverage. Twenty-four million Americans will face higher costs.
By the way, that includes about 17 million people in States that voted for President Trump. Families in red States are going to see significant premium increases.
But, you know, this is not about red State-blue State for me; this is about American families, American small businesses, and whether they can have access to affordable healthcare. These tax credits are across the board for people who are eligible and qualify for them, who are working, who are struggling to pay their bills, and there is no way they are going to be able to afford these rate shocks.
I will give you another example. Alex from Essex, VT, works in a small, independent physical therapy practice. He makes $65,000 a year. With the tax credits, his premium costs $5,500 bucks a year--about 8.5 percent of his annual income. Without the tax credit, Alex's plan is going to increase by $15,500 next year to $24,000 a year--two grand a month. It is not possible.
So we have this real-world situation.
You know, the question is, Why are you in a shutdown? It is because we are fighting for healthcare. The question is, Why can't we do that after we vote for a continuing resolution? It is because that date of November 1 is going to be the date where everybody across this country gets the shocking news about how much their healthcare premiums have gone up.
So, you know, the question I have is, Why don't we, all of us, Republicans and Democrats, who care deeply about the people we represent, really come to their rescue by acting and acting now? There is absolutely no excuse for us to delay. This is the urgency of now.
I stand before the Presiding Officer knowing that right now in my State of Vermont, from Bennington to Derby Line, from Brattleboro to Swanton, people are going to their mailboxes and fainting as they get the news of these rate shocks.
It is not right, but most importantly for us, it is not necessary because we, the U.S. Senate, have the power to act and to be fair to the folks that are working hard in all of our States and are entitled to have some confidence that the healthcare they have this year, they will continue to be able to afford next year.
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