Path created for government to reopen Health insurance concerns remain

BY CHRIS M AYS Vermont News & Media

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Despite opposition from Vermont senators, a deal was struck to end the federal government shutdown.

The Senate advanced a bill to achieve that goal on Sunday, the 41st day of a record-long shutdown. The measure would fund much of the government through Jan. 30 and provide funding for some agencies through the end of next September but the House of Representatives also needs to approve the legislation before President Trump can sign it.

Part of the agreement guarantees a vote in December on Affordable Care Act tax credits. They're set to expire at the end of the year without congressional action.

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt, said he couldn't vote for "a government funding bill that kicks millions of Americans off their health care."

"The heart of this government shutdown is, and always was, about access to health care," he said in a statement Monday. "There was an early recognition from my Republican colleagues that working families, small businesses, and farmers in their states would be really hurt by these premium increases - just as they will be in Democratic states, too. That's why it is so disappointing that Republicans refused to come to the table to extend the Affordable Care Act's premium tax credits. Millions of hardworking people, in every state, will face higher premiums and many will go without health coverage altogether."

Welch described shutdowns as "painful, damaging, and a sign of dysfunctional government."

"This Republican shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, was made all the more painful by President Trump's refusal to negotiate and his total disregard for federal workers and those in need, including millions of people who rely on SNAP and other government services," Welch said, referring to the Supple-mental Nutrition Assistance Program. "I am appalled by this Administration's endless cruelty."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, said via social media that he voted against "the continuing resolution that would double health care premiums for 20 million Americans, kick 15 million people off Medicaid & allow 50,000 Americans to die unnecessarily every year. All to give $1 trillion in tax breaks for billionaires."

"Last night, tragically, 8 Democrats caved," Sanders via social media Monday. "But the struggle continues. Short term, we must not allow health care premiums to double for more than 20 million Americans. Long term, we must provide health care to all as a human right."

New Hampshire's two senators were among the eight Democrats who broke ranks to end the shutdown.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, said she voted to reopen the government "so that we can get back to the work of helping Granite Staters."

"This agreement funds SNAP and food assistance programs, ensures that law enforcement, air traffic controllers, and other federal workers get paid, reverses the President's recent reckless layoffs and prevents them from happening in the future, and, crucially, gives Congress a clear path forward to protecting people's health care," Hassan said in a statement. "Our work to deliver relief for families now enters an important phase. Congress has one month to engage in serious, bipartisan negotiations to extend the Affordable Care Act's expiring tax cuts for health insurance."

Hassan said she and fellow Democrats have been "ready to work on this for months."

"With the government reopening shortly, Senate Republicans must finally come to the table - or, make no mistake, Americans will remember who stood in the way," she said.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, said the agreement "gives Democrats control of the Senate floor - at a time when Republicans control every level of power - on one of our top legislative priorities: Extending the enhanced premium tax credits to make health care more affordable for millions of Americans."

"Let's be clear: This is a major step that was not predetermined," Shaheen said in a statement. "I have spent years as the lead sponsor of this legislation. There is no one in the Senate who wants to see these tax credits extended more than me. But weeks of negotiations with Republicans have made clear that they will not address health care as part of shutdown talks - and that waiting longer will only prolong the pain Americans are feeling because of the shutdown."

Shaheen said the agreement also "reinstates thousands of fired federal workers and guarantees back pay to more than 1 million others."

"That was never a given, either," Shaheen said. "And critically, this deal restores a bipartisan appropriations process which includes funds for SNAP, WIC [Women Infants & Children] and health care for veterans."

Shaheen called for quickly ensuring that health care premiums be kept from "skyrocketing."

"I think this whole thing stinks," Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt, said in an interview on MSNBC, "and I think most members of the House caucus on the Democratic side are absolutely outraged about what we've been hearing."

Balint said she's "certainly proud of my two senators from Vermont that are not entertaining this." She called Trump "so out of touch."

"He has never wanted for anything in his life, and he's making the rest of us fight over scraps," Balint said. "And I just think we have to toe the line of holding firm against this administration who doesn't give a damn about regular people."