WASHINGTON, D.C. – This evening on the Senate floor, U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) led their colleagues in calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to protect access to health care and to keep the government open. An estimated 24 million Americans will pay more for health coverage and more than four million will lose coverage entirely if Republicans refuse to work with Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits.
To date, President Trump and Congressional Republicans have refused to work in a bipartisan way to fund the government.
“I want to be candid: I take significant issue with the President when he says, ‘don’t even bother dealing with Democrats.’ This always is a budget issue that has to involve Democrats and has to involve Republicans. If we don’t talk, we don’t resolve differences, and we aren’t in a position to do our jobs and find common ground,” said Senator Welch on the Senate floor. “We’ve got a situation here, as the Senior Senator from New Hampshire described, where if these health care premium supports expire, every American who has come to depend on access to health care through Obamacare…every person on that is in incredible jeopardy. And I know that every single member of this Senate is very concerned about access to health care for the people they represent. There’s no alternative out there that’s even being discussed if we don’t continue the premium support for people who are getting their health care through the Affordable Care Act.”
In his remarks, Senator Welch shared exchanges with Senator Shaheen and Senator Durbin (D-Ill.). He also outlined the extreme rise in health care costs for families in Vermont, Nebraska, California, Connecticut, Alaska, Wyoming, and West Virginia.
Watch Senator Welch’s floor remarks here:
Senators Welch and Shaheen were joined on the Senate Floor by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will cut more than $1 trillion dollars from Medicaid over ten years and could result in $1.7 billion in lost revenue for Vermont hospitals. More than 8,000 Vermonters are at risk of losing access to substance use treatment. Senator Welch voted in strong opposition against the legislation in July. If Republicans refuse to work with Democrats and extend ACA Premium Tax Credits before December 31, 2025, nearly 27,000 Vermonters will lose a vital source to pay for plans provided through the ACA marketplace.
Senator Welch has been an outspoken opponent of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and has championed efforts to protect Medicaid and Medicare in the Senate. In June, Senator Welch took to the Senate floor to slam Republicans’ tax bill and joined Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) for a virtual roundtable highlighting the harmful consequences of GOP policies for patients in Vermont.
This Congress, Senator Welch has led the introduction of several bills to make health care more accessible and affordable for Vermonters, including the 340B Pharmaceutical Access To Invest in Essential, Needed Treatments & Support (PATIENTS) Act, Eliminating Thickets to Improve Competition (ETHIC) Act, Maximizing Opioid Recovery Emergency (MORE) Savings Act, Strengthening Medicare and Reducing Taxpayer (SMART) Prices Act, Fair Prescription Drug Prices for Americans Act, End Price Gouging for Medications Act, Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, Fair Funding for Rural Hospitals Act, and the Rural Hospital Support Act.
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