Washington D.C — Today, House Republicans voted for a dirty funding bill that fails to reverse their disastrous cuts to Medicaid and allows vital health care tax credits to expire – raising health care costs, jeopardizing Americans’ access to health coverage for millions, and increasing the risk of a government shutdown.
Republicans in Congress manufactured this crisis when they passed the Republican Tax Law. They voted to gut Medicaid and to allow health care costs to rise, so that they could give their billionaire buddies another massive tax break. Now, we are on the verge of a government shutdown because Republicans in Congress decided to put billionaires over the health of millions of Americans.
Democrats in Congress offered a proposal that would solve these problems. Their version would keep the government open, while undoing Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid and preventing further increases in health care premiums for working-class families. Instead, House Republicans doubled down on their pro-billionaire agenda by refusing to negotiate and passing their own funding bill.
If Republicans fail to reverse course and don’t restore the health care tax credits:
- 4 million people will lose their health insurance
- Monthly health care payments will skyrocket by 75%
- 22 million people, including 5 million small business owners, would face higher health insurance costs
It is imperative that Republicans in Congress have a change of heart and act quickly to save Americans’ health care. Health insurance companies are already locking in premiums for next year, which means that every day Congress refuses to act, more and more people could be unable to afford health coverage. Shutting down the government rather than helping their own constituents afford health insurance would be an unbelievable slap in the face to millions of working people nationwide.
“If Republicans in Congress don’t vote to undo their Medicaid cuts, I don’t know how I’m going to pay for my son’s medical bills and still retire,” said Cumberland County, PA health advocate Paula Bussard. “It is simply outrageous that they would rather shut down the government than make health care more affordable for people like me just trying to support our child.”
“By voting for this funding bill, House Republicans confirmed what we already knew – tax breaks for billionaires are more of a priority for them than helping millions of Americans afford basic health care. They are even risking a government shutdown over it,” said Unrig Our Economy spokesperson Kobie Christian. “A Republican Congress that would rather shut down the entire federal government, gut Medicaid, and allow health care costs to rise for millions to pay for billionaire tax breaks is not a Congress of the people. It’s a Congress for the super-rich. Republicans in Congress need to come to the table to prevent health care costs from going up and undo their disastrous Medicaid cuts.”
To learn more about the campaign, visit UnrigOurEconomy.com or contact press@unrigoureconomy.com
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About Unrig Our Economy Unrig Our Economy is a national campaign to fix the rules of our economy to make it work for working people. We know that when the middle class does well, all of us do well — which is why we’re fighting on behalf of working Americans and holding corporations, their wealthy executives, and the politicians who enable them accountable.