Republicans gutted health care, and Illinoisans are about to pay for it

On Monday, hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans will log onto to decide on the best health care plan for their family next year. Some people might opt to keep the same plan, thinking it’s the most affordable option. Only this year is different.President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are making big changes in your health care. The Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits — which make health care affordable for millions of families nationwide — are at the center of that change. If Republicans in Congress allow these tax credits to expire in the coming weeks, which at this point seems more than likely, more than 20 million Americans will see their health insurance premiums skyrocket starting Jan. 1. Without action, monthly health premiums for many working families will double. Yearly costs will increase by thousands of dollars. And as a result, more than 4 million people will lose their health coverage altogether, including more than 100,000 people in Illinois.Anyone who has started to look at health insurance plans for next year can see that costs are going up, regardless of the kind of plan you have or where you buy your insurance. And yet, instead of working with Democrats to lower health care costs, Donald Trump and congressional Republicans shrug their shoulders and say the issue can wait.

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My Republican colleagues have no plan to improve health care or address this health care crisis. They didn’t have one in President Trump’s first term. And they don’t have one now.Donald Trump promised to cut your costs and make America healthy again. Instead, he is raising your family’s costs — from health care to electricity to groceries — and making America sicker by ripping health insurance away from millions of Americans.Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have made life harder and more expensive for millions of Americans. In fact, 53% of Americans say that economic conditions have gotten worse since President Trump took office.And now, instead of working with Democrats to contain staggering health insurance premium increases next year, my Republican colleagues have shut down the federal government, and House Republicans have gone on a four-week vacation.Staggering increasesLet me show you how staggering this premium increase is. A 60-year-old couple in Illinois with an income of $82,000 could see their annual premiums increase $17,000 a year if the enhanced tax credits are not extended. That’s an increase of $1,400 a month. Ask any working family whether paying an extra $1,400 a month will have an impact on the family budget.I’d argue that our job in Congress is to keep the lights on, which requires this kind of basic negotiation, especially during a shutdown — not after. But it’s impossible for the House to do that job while it’s still on vacation. Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress. Their hands are not tied — they simply don’t care to act.Skyrocketing premiums only add fuel to the fire started by the Republicans’ so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which included devastating health care cuts. That law will kick more than 10 million people off Medicaid and ACA health plans and slash funding for our nation’s hospitals — many of which will have to lay off staff or close altogether. As a direct result of that law, there are already rural hospitals starting to close across the country.Make no mistake: Unless they come to the negotiating table, Republicans in Congress are showing they would rather shut down the government than work with Democrats to protect against massive health care price spikes and coverage losses. This does not just affect those on the Affordable Care Act plans — failing to act will touch every American through increased health care costs and wait times.It is time for Speaker Johnson to end the House’s absence and bring his members back to D.C. so that they can do their jobs. It is time for Republicans to sit down with Democrats and negotiate a solution to this problem.Republicans need to answer to the 395,000 Illinoisans who will see their premiums skyrocket, and the more than 100,000 who will lose coverage altogether.They need to explain why there is taxpayer money available to finance $172 million for private jets for a Cabinet official or $20 billion to give away to Argentina but not available to help middle-class families afford their health coverage.The American people deserve better. Having affordable health care and keeping the government open should not be partisan issues.Dick Durbin is a U.S. senator from Illinois.

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