(WJAR) — U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse on Monday discussed the upcoming health insurance price hikes for Rhode Islanders, calling on Congress Republicans to take bipartisan action to save health care and reopen the government.
According to officials, many Rhode Islanders will see a health insurance price hike, as the Affordable Care Act tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year.
The senators blamed this on President Donald Trump and Congressional republicans, saying they are taking away tax credits from working people.
“Health insurance by definition is supposed to help protect you from price shocks, not expose you to price shocks,” Reed said at a press conference discussing the price hikes. “Regular hardworking Americans are getting priced out of their healthcare market, and they’re about to get additional major price shocks, being force to pay double or triple what they currently owe, unless Congress takes urgent and overdue action. And that’s why we’re demanding action and in conjunction with reopening the government.”
Leaders shared an example, saying a Rhode Islander could see an increase of $650 a month on their health care premiums when the Affordable Care Act tax credits go away.
“Just the affordable care credit problem is going to affect 41,000 Rhode Islanders, they’re going to see this kind of unmanageable increase in their premium. And it’s estimated that 13,000 are going to have to drop coverage entirely because they can’t afford it anymore,” Sen. Whitehouse said.
HealthSource RI Director Lindsay Lang said its customers will receive their renewal letters later this week, with their premiums increased on average over 100%.