Senator Murray: “Saying ‘let’s start talking about fixing this now,’ a month into open enrollment, instead of at any point earlier this year when we actually had time to stop premiums from skyrocketing or look at some of these different reforms—well, that is about as serious as expressing concern about RFK Jr.’s anti-vax crusade after voting to make him the most powerful public health official in the country.”
Senator Murray: “I do want to note that tomorrow, CDC’s Vaccine Committee is meeting to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, and the Hepatitis B vaccines—something the chair of this Committee has said many times save lives. The CDC Advisory Committee is going to hear from who-knows-who… I am deeply alarmed that this Committee has not done more oversight, and we still have not done a thing to force RFK Jr. to come here and answer questions about his decision to fire the CDC Director Monarez and limit access to lifesaving vaccines. I hope that will change.”
Senator Murray has been sounding the alarm on the looming health care cost cliff and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to extend the ACA tax credits for YEARS—FULL TIMELINE HERE
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks on health care and Q&A with witnesses***
Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on health care affordability, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)—a former chair and senior member of the HELP Committee—slammed Republican hypocrisy on health care affordability and called on Republicans to support a clean extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to curb at least some of the damage from the massive health care premium hikes Republicans have already set in motion by refusing to lift a finger to extend the ACA tax credits earlier this year.
Because of Republicans’ refusal to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, 22 million Americans—including over 216,000 in Washington state—are seeing their health care costs for next year skyrocket. Premiums are more than doubling on average for people who buy health coverage on the Marketplace (Washington Healthplanfinder in Washington state), and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health insurance coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA enhanced premium tax credits is HERE.
In opening remarks, Senator Murray said:
“We’ve got to be real here: We are a month into open enrollment. A full month. The time to save people from these huge increases in cost that they’re going to see because the ACA tax credits was before those premium hikes were all-but locked in.
“Saying ‘let’s start talking about fixing this now,’a month into open enrollment, instead of any point earlier this year when we actually had time to stop premiums from skyrocketing or look at some of these different reforms—well, this is about as serious as expressing concern about RFK Jr.’s anti-vax crusade after voting to make him the most powerful public health official in the country.
“The time is out. Realistically, the only way, the only way now we can still stop people from seeing these huge increases is a clean extension and a longer open enrollment. And I think we should be honest about that.
“I appreciate the ideas being tossed around, even if I have some concerns with some of the proposals. But if Republicans had come to the table at any point this year, there would still be time to sit down and talk.
“But we have now seen Republicans run out the clock. They blew right past the start of open enrollment! Forget about time spent negotiating—even if we passed a bill today, there is not time to implement anything more complicated than a clean extension.
“So, if Republicans are serious about preventing the MAGA health care hike, they should work with us right now to pass a clean, one-year extension—as fast as possible. Literally right now.
“And if their call for reforming tax credits is serious, we should look at that. We can talk about reforms—ahead of the 2027 year.
“But I have to say, I am not optimistic that most Republicans are serious about saving people from exploding costs, because they refused to talk about this problem before right now, and I have been down this road before.
“During the first Trump administration, I sat across from Chair Alexander and we hammered out a bipartisan plan to lower costs. We were on the one-yard line. Then the call came down from Trump and Republican leaders: they didn’t want a deal. They didn’t want to lower health care costs.
“And they started demanding restrictions on abortion—something that had never been an issue in our talks until then—and used that pretext to torpedo months of bipartisan negotiations. So, excuse my skepticism today when we have seen this tired playbook.
“If Republicans want to talk health care, great. Unfortunately, we’ve heard many Republicans make it clear they are not serious. But if that changes, I am at the table. I’m ready to talk about our health care system in this country.”
Appearing at the hearing as witnesses were: Joel White, President, Council for Affordable Health Coverage; Marcie Strouse, Owner and Partner, Capitol Benefits Group; and Claudia M. Fegan, MD, National Coordinator, Physicians for a National Health Program.
[MEDICAID AND ACA CUTS]
Senator Murray began her questioning by asking Dr. Fegan about the gigantic cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act that Republicans passed into law this summer as part of their partisan reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: “So Dr. Fegan, let me talk to you. Did any of the cuts Republicans made in their reconciliation bill this summer make health care more affordable for American families?”
“They did not,” answered Dr. Fegan.
“I’ve heard a lot of discussion about making coverage more affordable for small businesses and employers,” Senator Murray continued. “I think what is important to acknowledge is that nearly half of adults within the ACA Marketplace are small business owners or employees, and letting these tax credits expire is going to hurt them dramatically.”
[UPCOMING CDC ACIP MEETING]
In concluding her questioning, Senator Murray said: “Before my time is almost up, I do want to note that tomorrow, CDC’s Vaccine Committee is meeting to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, and the Hepatitis B vaccines—something the chair of this Committee has said many times save lives. The CDC Advisory Committee is going to hear from who-knows-who.”
“But based on the fact CDC’s own website now spreads anti-vax disinformation, I want to state for the record, I am deeply alarmed that this Committee has not done more oversight, and we still have not done a thing to force RFK Jr. to come here and answer questions about his decision to fire the CDC Director Monarez and limit access to lifesaving vaccines. I hope that will change.”
Just yesterday, Senator Murray released a statement in response to reporting by the Washington Post that, in their upcoming meeting this week, vaccine advisors handpicked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy for the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are planning to vote on ending the practice of vaccinating all newborns for Hepatitis B. “Ending the decades-long recommendation that babies born in the U.S. get vaccinated against Hepatitis B is a heartless choice to allow babies to die in the United States,” Murray said, calling on HELP Chairman Cassidy to compel RFK Jr. to testify before the HELP Committee.
Senator Murray has been speaking out nonstop about the urgent need to save health care and calling on Republicans to come to the negotiating table to work out a bipartisan deal to extend the ACA tax credits—which they have so far refused to do. She took to the Senate floor in November with her Democratic colleagues in November to call for a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits, and has held numerous virtual press conferences with Washingtonians, as well as residents of neighboring states Idaho and Montana, about the exploding health care premiums that Americans are seeing due to the expiration of the tax credits. As the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray led legislation supported by the Democratic caucus that would have addressed the health care crisis during the government shutdown. Senator Murray has also cosponsored multiple pieces of legislation over the past year—the Health Care Affordability Actand the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act—that would make the ACA tax credits permanent.
Senator Murray played a critical role in passing the ACA enhanced premium tax credits into law in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extending them in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Since then, she has called on Republicans to extend the enhanced premium tax credits dozens of times, calling attention to the tax credit cliff and how millions of Americans will see their health care costs jump dramatically if Republicans don’t work with Democrats on an extension.
A timeline detailing how Senator Murray has been fighting for years to extend the ACA tax credits, and calling on Republicans to come to the table and negotiate, is HERE.
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