Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is blaming Republicans for the shutdown that is entering its second day. One issue she says is health care subsidies.
“20 million Americans are on the brink of seeing their premiums skyrocket. If we don’t extend the health care assistance that families rely on, many Americans will have to make impossible choices: pay rent or see a doctor; put food on the table or buy their child’s medication; keep their small business afloat or offer their employees health insurance,” says Senator Gillibrand. “This is a Republican-manufactured health care crisis with potentially life-threatening consequences. Democrats stand ready to work on a bipartisan basis to keep health care costs low and reopen the government. I’m calling on my Republican colleagues to come to the negotiating table and prioritize American families over billionaires.”
Without an extension, Gillibrand says Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits will expire at the end of 2025, causing 20 million Americans to see a sudden increase in their health insurance costs. This includes at least 1.6 million New Yorkers, who will face an average yearly increase of $1,360 in the amount they pay for their premiums. New York can expect to see significant increases in the uninsured rate if these subsidies expire. Gillibrand emphasized that a path forward to address this looming health care crisis must be at the center of any agreement to end the shutdown.
Gillibrand adds Republicans are giving misleading information about who is eligible. "They are assuming the Democrat demands automatically equate to new spending for undocumented immigrants, this is not true. Republicans are assuming Democrat demands for overturning Medicaid cuts from the summer reconciliation bill equates to funding for undocumented immigrants. That is not true," says Gillibrand. She says no undocumented person is eligible.
Gillibrand urges voters to speak up. "I think their constituents need to tell them that they're unhappy with these decisions that they're making. Our democracy always rests on the voice of the people, and so when I hope New Yorkers will call our Republican House members to tell them they're unhappy with this unwillingness to work on a bipartisan basis to get health care costs down should be the call that everybody makes, and certainly calls to the White House and calls to the administration, and if necessary, we'll have to do protests," adds Gillibrand.
The shutdown is in its second day.