Friends—
I just came off the House floor, and I voted No on the Republicans’ government funding bill.
The government shut down in the first place because Republicans refused to work with Democrats to prevent health care premiums for nearly 20 million Americans from soaring next year.
This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Just as many Republicans as Democrats—if not more—rely on the Affordable Care Act for coverage. We were fighting for all Americans who will be harmed when these premiums rise, but Republicans refused to budge.
The Right was willing to put the country through unnecessary pain before lifting a finger to help the American people afford health care—including their own supporters.
They actually sought to make the pain worse. We saw that when SNAP funding ran dry and the Trump administration went to court to block the use of a backup fund to help Americans buy food. We saw it again when, even as federal employees went without pay, they tried to lay off more workers.
I will not reward Republicans with my vote for betraying millions of Americans, forcing them to pay skyrocketing premiums or lose health coverage altogether.
The shutdown may be over, but Democrats’ fight to make health care accessible and affordable for all continues.
We’ll keep raising awareness, sharing people’s stories, and working with any Republican who believes—as we do—that millions of Americans shouldn’t see their health care premiums double in January, especially when so many families are already struggling with high costs.
Is our health care system affordable for everyone? Of course not—and no Democrat is claiming it is. But it’s been Democrats who have consistently offered solutions to bring costs down: empowering Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, capping insulin costs, and more.
Republicans have opposed these measures time and again. And when Republicans are in charge, they have no plan at all. Earlier this year, they passed a bill that will strip health insurance from 10 million people, and their inaction on these premium increases will cause more than 4 million more to lose coverage.
The bottom line is this: Democrats are fighting to prevent HealthCare.gov premium costs from rising. Republicans did not join us. The Right was willing to inflict harm on everyday Americans rather than work with us to protect people’s coverage.
My Democratic colleagues and I will continue fighting to prevent Obamacare premiums from increasing and to make health care in this country more affordable. I hope Republicans will join us in that effort.
Sincerely,
Jim