Don't blame Democrats for health care costs

We'll just come right out and say it: Republicans in Washington, D.C., seem intent on making health insurance more expensive for many Connecticut residents, and we don't want anyone to think it was our idea.

That's a little blunt, we know. And please don't mistake this candor for surrender. We'll still do everything in our power to protect Connecticut health care consumers, but let's acknowledge it: Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, and it's up to them to extend the enhanced ObamaCare subsidies that have made Access Health CT plans more affordable since the pandemic.

Elections have consequences, and last year's election handed the keys to the federal government to a party that voted unanimously against the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and twice opposed the enhanced subsidies during the Biden administration.

Forgive us if we're not optimistic this administration will deliver relief for middle income families.

What's at stake for patients in Connecticut? Unless Republicans take action before the end of the year, health insurance costs will increase by an average of about $3,400 annually for roughly 142,000 of our residents. Keep in mind that $3,400 only accounts for Republican federal policy changes and doesn't consider insurance industry rate requests that could drive up prices even more.

Unless Congress takes action, about 28,000 residents could lose all federal health care assistance. What does that look like? According to Access Health CT, the monthly premiums for a family of five earning about $150,600 in Fairfield would jump from $991 to $4,140. That's a well over 300% premium hike for the same health care plan.

While we're on the subject of health insurance affordability, it would be irresponsible not to mention that the federal budget passed by Republicans and signed by President Donald Trump will kick as many as 170,000 Connecticut residents off their Medicaid/Husky policies over the next 10 years.

We don't want to be blamed for that either.

We've spent much of this year ringing alarm bells and warning our residents of how this Republican federal government has worked to make life more expensive for working families: raising electric rates by canceling nearly completed supply projects, withholding education funding while towns were trying to adopt their budgets, and taxing consumers through inflation-inducing tariff policies -- to name a few.

The truth is that so many destructive policies have emerged from Washington over the last eight months that we're worried residents may begin to tune out our warnings -- or worse, mistake the policies of the Republican-controlled federal government for those of this state.

Frankly, we understand. Connecticut residents are struggling in the Trump economy. They're working hard, raising families, paying their bills, and doing their best to keep their heads above water. Who has time to untangle which government actions originate in Hartford and which come from Washington, D.C.?

Let us be clear: we're calling on the Republican Congress and the Trump administration to take action by extending affordable health care subsidies to prevent price hikes for Connecticut consumers. While we're at it, we call on Republicans to change course on their economic and energy policies that are driving inflation and electric rates higher every day.

More than that, we're calling on Connecticut Republican legislators, any in the General Assembly that supposedly represent one third of our state's population, to join us in our concern for the health care costs of our constituents. Just last week, the General Assembly's Human Services Committee convened an urgent hearing to examine the devastating impact of federal health care cuts on our residents. Yet not a single Connecticut Republican bothered to show up. They stayed on the sidelines, unwilling even to hear firsthand how their party's policies in Washington are driving up costs for their own constituents here in Connecticut. Their silence was deafening, cynical, and cowardly.

We hope Republicans will wake up and stop prioritizing the interests of billionaires over the well-being of working-class families. However, if they continue to make life less affordable for Connecticut, there's only so much we can do to mitigate the damage however hard we try. So as costs continue to soar during the Trump era, blame a Republican. Don't blame us.

Martin Looney is president pro temp of the Connecticut state Senate and Bob Duff is Senate majority leader.