Washington, D.C. – Today, the New York Times reported the Trump administration is proposing that people take on medical debt from insurance companies after Republicans made premiums skyrocket — as if ripping away tax credits that 22 million Americans relied on to see a doctor to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations wasn’t bad enough. At a time when working families are being squeezed by soaring health care costs and budget-busting premium hikes, this “suggestion” is not only out of touch, it is cruel — accruing medical debt only adds to families’ financial burdens.
In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach made the following statement:
“While working families drown in the high cost of living, the Trump administration’s answer to the health care affordability crisis they created is to throw people an anchor made of medical debt and call it relief. Trump and Republicans had a simple, popular fix sitting right in front of their faces — extending the ACA tax credits — but they killed it anyway, triggering premiums to double, triple, or even quadruple for millions of working families, all to make billionaires and big corporations even richer. Americans are being bankrupted by crushing medical debt, and this administration isn’t lifting a finger to help — it’s busy shoveling more people into that hole. Voters will remember this foolishness at the ballot box in November, just you wait.”
More From the New York Times:
- “The Trump administration has been trying to promote ways to address the increased cost of A.C.A. plans fueled by the Republican-controlled Congress’s decision last year to end additional federal tax credits, the more generous subsidies. Those subsidies significantly reduced the cost of Americans’ premiums.”
- “Dr. John W. Scott, a trauma surgeon and health services researcher at the University of Washington, said that borrowing money for medical care would not address the fundamental issue of rising health care expenses for the average household. In a recent study of patients with emergency medical conditions requiring surgery, he found that people with a high-deductible plan showed up late with more acute symptoms because they had waited to get help.”