Washington, D.C. \u2013 <\/b>Senate Republican Leader John Thune tried to defend Republicans\u2019 war on health care shutdown on Meet the Press yesterday, but voters deserve to know the truth. Republicans jumped at the chance to slash $1 trillion from Medicaid to carve out tax breaks for billionaires in their Big, Ugly Bill. The tax credits that Republicans are dead set on ending are a lifeline keeping millions of hard-working families on health insurance.<\/p>\n
Now the GOP is once again proving their allegiance to their wealthy friends over working people by shutting down the government to avoid giving working families the tax relief they deserve. In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWhile John Thune is on a PR tour to defend Republicans\u2019 reckless war on health care, families across the nation are getting notices in the mail showing eye-popping premium increases for 2026. Senator Thune wants you to believe there is no urgency to stop the GOP health care crisis, but the truth is that the fallout is happening now.\u00a0 If Republicans refuse to come to the table to negotiate a bipartisan budget, 1.5 million people will lose coverage by the end of this year. Millions more will face premium hikes of up to 90 percent. Republicans must stop playing political games at the expense of American families.\u201d<\/p>\n
FACT CHECK<\/b><\/p>\n
Thune:<\/b> The government funding bill congressional Republicans are pushing is a \u2018clean\u2019 bill that won\u2019t change existing policy.<\/p>\n
Fact: <\/b>The GOP funding bill would mean a dramatic change in tax policy, dealing a devastating blow to the over 20 million hard-working Americans who buy their own health insurance.<\/p>\n
Thune:<\/b> There\u2019s no urgent need to stop health insurance tax credits from ending.<\/p>\n
Fact: <\/b>California, Maine, New York, and North Carolina are among the states that have already sent out notices of premium increases to health insurance enrollees. In California, the average increase is 27.75%.<\/p>\n
Thune: \u201c<\/b>They\u2019re [Democrats are] trying to hijack it [the government funding bill] and load up all this liberal special interest stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fact:<\/b> Continuing the tax credits that help working families afford health insurance is not a partisan issue. Nearly half of Americans who buy insurance on their own are Republicans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thune:<\/b> Health care tax credits for working families are \u201cfraught with waste, fraud, and abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n Fact: <\/b>Families who rely on tax credits to afford health care should not be priced out of coverage because of the actions of a subset of unscrupulous insurance agents and brokers. CMS has already implemented important actions<\/a> to stop broker misconduct.<\/p>\n