WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, tonight slammed Congressional Republicans’ attack on health care, including the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“We should repeal the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. It’s not a working families’ tax plan…We should absolutely be passing policies that help working families, and I’ve got bipartisan bills to do that. But we can’t move forward without addressing these real threats to our health care system. And the repeal of health care provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill—that’s what we have to do,” said Senator Welch. “We’ve got to support Medicare and Medicaid. We need to extend the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits so those Vermont families and families in every state across the country—red state, blue state—don’t get hammered with these multi-thousand-dollar premium increases.”
“Health care is an essential concern of every single American family. And the concern is that it costs too much, access is too difficult, and the provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill have set us back—they have not moved us ahead.”
Watch Senator Welch’s speech below:
Senator Welch also urged his colleagues to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, which help low- and moderate-income Americans access health coverage. In 2024, nearly 27,000 Vermonters received ACA Premium Tax Credits to pay for plans provided through the ACA marketplace. If Republicans refuse to work with Democrats and extend these discounted premiums, the tax credits will expire on December 31, 2025, resulting in rate increases and pushing affordable health care out of reach for thousands of Vermonters.
Vermont officials estimate about 45,000 Vermonters could lose their health coverage in the coming years as a result of Republicans’ and President Trump’s health care policies. The recently passed tax and spending bill, the so-called ‘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.
This Congress, Senator Welch has led the introduction of several bills to make health care more accessible and affordable for Vermonters, including the 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, Protecting Pharmacies in Medicaid Act, Fair Funding for Rural Hospitals Act, and the Rural Hospital Support Act.
Learn more about his work by visiting his website or by following him on social media.
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