Washington, D.C. – Ten days after Trump’s health care premium hikes beganhitting working families’ pocketbooks, he showed the American people that he still doesn’t understand their most basic needs. On Sunday, Trumpthreatened to veto a bill that would restore Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits fornearly 22 million Americans who depend on them.17 House Republicans joined Democrats last week to support that bill. Despite theoverwhelming unpopularity of their position, Trump and Senate Republican Leader John Thune (R-SD) seem determined to keep their heads in the sand and block this commonsense cost relief measure from becoming law, forcing hard-working families intoimpossible choices between health care, food, and rent.
“Donald Trump’s war on health care is alive and well,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “While Americans are facing an unprecedented affordability crisis, Trump is threatening to veto a bipartisan bill that passed the House last week to restore tax credits to make coverage affordable for millions of Americans. Last year, Trump and Republicans ripped these tax credits away from 22 million Americans and slashed a trillion dollars from Medicaid, all to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. And now Trump is doubling down and putting the health care of millions of Americans in jeopardy while he focuses on plundering oil in Venezuela and building a gilded ballroom. The real question is where do John Thune and Senate Republicans stand — with Trump’s war on health care or with the American people?”
Background:
GOP premium hikes:
- Double or triple premiums for over 20 million hardworking Americans including small business owners, farmers, and older adults.
- Rip health care away from over 4 million Americans to pay for tax breaks for corporations like Big Pharma and billionaires like Elon Musk.
- Force middle class families to pay $300 billion more in health care costs while CEOs and yacht owners pocket nearly $1 trillion in tax breaks.
- Force one in three Americans buying health care on their own to reduce their coverage and pay thousands more each year in health care costs.
- Pressure countless families to cut back on food, clothing, and other basics to afford health insurance and greater out-of-pocket costs.
- Cut $30 billion from hospitals and clinics at a time over 600+ facilities across the country are already folding under the weight of GOP Medicaid cuts.
AARP issued a statement pushing for a 3-year extension of the tax credits, noting that some older Americans are the hardest hit by higher premiums and being asked to pay as much as 30 percent of their income for health care. See how older couples are hit by the GOP’s scheme to rip away ACA tax credits:
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Key Largo, Florida, will be forced to pay $4,801 more a month and $57,613 more a year — more than two-thirds of their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Carbondale, Illinois, will be forced to pay $5,020 more a month and $60,244 more a year — more than two-thirds of their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Chesterfield, West Virginia, will be forced to pay $3,882 more a month and $46,487 more a year — more than half their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
- A 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Sheridan, Wyoming, will be forced to pay $4,135 more a month and $49,621 more a year — more than half their annual income — to stay on the same health plan next year.
