IN SENATE FLOOR SPEECH, DURBIN CALLS ON REPUBLICANS TO PROTECT HEALTH CARE COVERAGE FOR THEIR CONSTITUENTS AHEAD OF THIS WEEK'S VOTE TO EXTEND ACA TAX CREDITS

The following information was released by Illinois Senator Richard J. Durbin:

U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today delivered a speech on the Senate floor ahead of the Senate's anticipated vote to extend the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits this week. These tax credits have put health care within reach for Americans by lowering health insurance premiums for more than 20 million Americans nationwide, including upwards of 500,000 Illinoisans. Durbin received a commitment from Republican Leader John Thune to put a bill on the Senate floor in December to address the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.

If Republicans vote against extending these enhanced premium tax credits, more than four million Americans are expected to lose their health care coverage next year, including more than 160,000 people in Illinois. Tens of millions of others will see their monthly premiums double or even triple.

Durbin began his speech with his own family's experience of being uninsured when his newborn daughter was in need of critical care.

"The issue of quality, affordable health insurance is personal to me. I know what it feels like to be a new dad with a beautiful baby girl with a serious medical condition. I was a student in law school at Georgetown [University], here in Washington, D.C. God gave us this beautiful little girl, but I didn't have health insurance as a law student. We ended up in the charity ward of Children's National Hospital waiting for our name to be called to be introduced to the doctor who would do his best to help my daughter... I have never felt so helpless as I did in that moment," Durbin began.

"As lawmakers, I believe that our job is to help make life a little bit better for the people we represent, and this week that means tackling the issue of quality, affordable health insurance," Durbin said.

Durbin then shared the story of a Chicago waitress who relies on ACA tax credits to make her health care plan affordable.

"Yesterday, when my wife and I went to Lou Mitchell's for breakfast before church, I had a conversation with another person there on their staff, a waitress. She's a manager as well. And she's been working at this job for years. She's 63 years old. Her husband just qualified for Medicare, and she felt relieved that that worry about his health insurance would be taken care of. She then found out that the Medicare Advantage program that she would be having him sign up for runs $200 a month. Her original premiums, she's paying for health insurance premiums for him and for her, is $279 a month. So right off the bat, she faced an increase over her base premium that she's been paying for some time. But she had the good fortune, at least up until now, to have a tax credit to help pay for those premiums. Then she got the notice from her health insurance company that the cost of her insurance, even with her husband not covered on the same policy [because he's on Medicare], is going to virtually double," Durbin said. "Hardworking woman, 63 years old, whose health insurance is going to more than double each month. She doesn't make a fortune as a waitress."

"We have a chance this week to change it. And that's what I told her. If we can get a bipartisan group to agree to just extend these credits, we're going to be able to bring your premiums down to be more affordable... it won't double or triple, which is likely to happen otherwise. I think about her as I stand on the floor of the Senate and think about the tears in her eyes as she talked to me about what her life is going to be like if we fail. We can't fail. We have an obligation to her," Durbin said.

Durbin reminded his colleagues that congressional Democrats have been pushing to make quality health care more accessible for millions of Americans for more than 15 years. The ACA, championed by Democrats, changed the landscape of health care in the U.S. by expanding coverage options. Prior to the passage of the legislation in 2010, insurance companies routinely denied patients coverage if they had pre-existing conditions, preventing millions of Americans from securing an affordable health care plan.

"Prior to the ACA, we must remember that insurance companies could deny coverage to patients with pre-existing conditions... If someone had, for example, a history of diabetes, heart disease, or even a past pregnancy, insurance companies used to be able to exclude those services from your plan or charge you an amount that you couldn't afford. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies are no longer allowed to discriminate against patients with pre-existing conditions," Durbin said. "We required, in that law, that health insurance plans cover comprehensive benefits, hospitalizations, prescription drugs, and even mental health and addiction treatment. And we allowed children to stay on parents' health insurance until young men and women reach the age of 26."

"What was the result? It worked... We achieved the lowest number of uninsured Americans in our country's history. Millions more Americans suddenly had the peace of mind of quality health care," Durbin continued. "Why do they [congressional Republicans] want to reverse this?"

To combat the rising cost of health care, congressional Democrats implemented ACA enhanced premium tax credits through the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and extended them in the Inflation Reduction Act through the end of 2025. As a result of these enhanced premium tax credits, the number of Americans covered on the ACA's marketplace increased from 11 million in 2020 to 24 million this year. Despite millions of Americans relying on these tax credits, congressional Republicans have refused to act to extend them, consequently threatening health care coverage for Americans that cannot otherwise afford to pay for their premiums. This is in addition to the nearly $1 trillion in cuts congressional Republicans made to Medicaid in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was passed at the direction of President Trump in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires.

"This summer, congressional Republicans eliminated $1 trillion in spending from Medicaid. This will take health care away from 11 million Americans and threaten rural and inner-city hospitals. In also refusing to extend the enhanced premium tax credits, 22 million Americans may see their health premiums double on average," Durbin continued.

Durbin underscored that Illinoisans across the state will see a spike in monthly premiums costs.

"In Jackson County, Southern Illinois small towns, rural areas residents there, on average, will see their monthly premiums go from $122 a month to $458. That's a difference of $330 a month, a 274 percent increase. Crawford County in downstate Illinois? Monthly premiums are expected to rise from $170 a month to $517 a 204 percent increase," Durbin said.

Durbin then spoke about Democrats' straight-forward proposal a three-year extension for these tax credits to prevent this looming health care crisis, instigated by Republicans' inaction.

"This week, Senate Democrats are going to put forward a proposal to extend the health insurance premium tax credits for three years. Some Republicans say that's too long. Well, come back with an amendment for two years or one year or something! Show that there is a beating heart there that actually cares to solve a problem, a problem that affects a waitress in a restaurant in downtown Chicago," Durbin said.

"Now we've come at a moment where on January 1, the world is going to change for millions of Americans if we do nothing. I want to work with Republicans on this bill. I want to make the Affordable Care Act better. We've got to take care of the immediate crisis before January 1. If Republicans, 13 brave Republicans, will step up and say, 'we want to extend the tax credits,' there's going to be a an opportunity for us to sit down and say, 'what do we need to consider doing to make the Affordable Care Act better?'" Durbin said.

Durbin concluded his remarks by expressing his hope that Congress can extend the ACA tax credits to ensure that his constituents, including the waitress at Lou Mitchell's, can afford their health care.

"I want to go back to that restaurant, maybe not next Sunday but after Christmas, and tell my friend that we heard her. We did something about it, and we're going to give her a helping hand at a time when she has nowhere else to turn. She's working hard every single day and has done that all of her life. All she's asked us to do is give her a fighting chance to have health insurance for her family. Isn't it really incumbent upon us to meet that responsibility?" Durbin concluded his speech.