Affordable Care Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, on a separate subject, in just a few weeks, the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits are set to expire. We have precious little time to act. That means, on January 1 of next year, millions of Americans will see their health insurance costs skyrocket, and some will have to drop health insurance coverage completely because they just can't afford the premiums. Will they get sick? You bet. Will they go to the hospital? Many will. Will they get treated? Yes. Will they be able to pay their bills with their health insurance premiums? Unfortunately, not if they drop coverage.
That includes my constituent Jess, a hair stylist in Chicago who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. Jess said that if the tax credits go away, as they are supposed to on January 1, she would be forced to pay more for healthcare and will have to make a ``lifestyle change to pay the difference,'' potentially working more shifts. She also worries about a lapse of coverage if the price increase forces her to switch plans. Any gap in coverage could jeopardize her lifesaving cancer treatment.
How would you like to have that hanging over your head? Premiums of your health insurance plan go through the roof, and you need constant coverage because of a diagnosis of breast cancer. No American family should face that.
Here is the good news though. We can make a difference here in the Senate. We can stop Americans like Jess from falling off this looming healthcare cliff. As part of the bipartisan agreement to end the longest government shutdown in American history, Leader Thune, who was on the floor this morning, gave me his word, and I accepted it, that he will hold a vote in this Chamber extending these subsidies to Jess and others who desperately need help.
Last week, reports emerged from the White House about plans to release a proposal that would extend these subsidies for 2 years. The President was supporting that. Imagine my surprise after trying to cut or repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 70 times, after he promised on the campaign trail that he had ``concepts of a plan,'' whatever the heck that is--finally, we were to see the details of the Republican healthcare agenda for America.
But congressional Republicans jumped all over the White House and told the President he couldn't do it. They threw cold water on the idea of the President cooperating with the Democrats to solve this problem. The President has been tough to pin down on this subject, and Republicans know that they have a losing hand because they have no plan.
So far, their signature accomplishment is a law that would kick 11 million Americans off Medicaid and shutter rural hospitals in my State and others.
It is my hope that the President and Republicans will come to the table and negotiate in good faith in the few days that remain in the December session. Let's do this together. Let's fix the tax credit that is available to families who struggle to pay health insurance premiums. If they don't, we will put our proposal on the floor, and the American people will see where each party stands when it comes to helping deserving American families who need a helping hand.
If our offer on the Democrat side is rejected, the American public will know, with every paycheck, with every prescription, with every hospital bill, which party stood on their side and which didn't.
The time to make a good-faith effort on a bipartisan basis is now. Just 13 days from now is the deadline to enroll or change plans before the first of the year. Before and during the shutdown, my Republican colleagues argued there was plenty of time to craft a fix before the subsidies expire. The clock is ticking, and we need to act on a bipartisan basis.
When I voted to end the government shutdown, it was controversial. But I said I would not wage a political strategy at the expense of my neighbor's paycheck or food for his family. I meant it. But I, too, cannot sit idly by while 20 million Americans go without gas or groceries in order to pay their health insurance premiums. This is a question of fundamentals: Will you be able to afford the healthcare you and your family need? Let's get this done on behalf of every American in red and blue communities alike.
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