{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-calls-out-republicans-for-refusing-to-help-stop-health-insurance-bills-from-skyrocketing-for-millions-of-families-including-their-own-constituents", "Duckworth Calls Out Republicans for Refusing to Help Stop Health Insurance Bills from Skyrocketing for Millions of Families, Including Their Own Constituents", "2025-11-19", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Tammy Duckworth", "D000622", "www.duckworth.senate.gov", "duckworth", "https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "At today\u2019s Commerce subcommittee hearing, Duckworth invited Kansas resident Eileen Spickler as a witness to share how her family depends on the ACA tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year\n\n[WASHINGTON, D.C.] \u2013 At today\u2019s Republican-led Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) called out her Republican colleagues for holding this highly partisan hearing in attempt to distract the American people from the pain Republicans continue to cause for millions of families by refusing to help stop ACA premiums from skyrocketing at the end of the year. To underscore the urgency of the looming health care crisis Republicans are trying to evade, Duckworth invited Kansas resident Eileen Spickler to appear as a witness and share her powerful story about how ACA tax credits have allowed her family to afford health insurance for her husband, Barry, whose health depends on it. Full video of Senator Duckworth\u2019s opening remarks and Eileen Spickler\u2019s testimony can be found on the Senator\u2019s YouTube.\n\n\u201cRepublicans control the House, the Senate and the White House\u2014if they want someone to blame for the consequences of the shutdown, they should look in the mirror,\u201d said Duckworth. \u201cDemocrats have always known that shutdowns are bad, but unlike Republicans, we also want to stop millions from losing their health care coverage or being forced to pay thousands more each month\u2014a looming crisis Republicans still have no plan to address.\u201d\n\nDuckworth continued: \u201cJust as Trump could have paid air traffic controllers or prevented Americans from going hungry if he had wanted to, Republicans could also join Democrats to at the table at any time to help find a bipartisan solution to avert this health care crisis for people like Eileen and her husband, Barry. But shamefully, they\u2019d rather spend their time trying to distract the American people and point fingers at anyone but themselves.\u201d\n\nSpickler\u2019s husband will be forced to forgo insurance because they simply can\u2019t afford to lose the $1,100 in tax relief that enables them to afford monthly premiums.\n\n\u201cIn 2025, we paid $109 a month and we received almost $1,200 per month in subsidies. If it weren\u2019t for the premium tax credits, we would not have been able to afford insurance for Barry at all, and honestly, I don\u2019t know where we\u2019d be, or if we\u2019d even be sitting here before you. Access to affordable health insurance is life and death for us,\u201d wrote Eileen Spickler in her prepared statement to the committee.\n\nA full transcript of Spickler\u2019s testimony can be found on Senator Duckworth\u2019s website.\n\nAccording to the Kansas Hospital Association, refusal to extend current tax law for enhanced premium tax credits would result in:\n\nA massive 77% increase, on average, on out-of-pocket premiums for Kansans who currently receive enhanced premium tax credits;\n\nA premium hike of over $2,500 per year for a Kansas family of four making $64,000 a year; and\n\nA premium hike of more than $18,000 annually for a 60-year-old couple making $82,800 a year.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-calls-out-republicans-for-refusing-to-help-stop-health-insurance-bills-from-skyrocketing-for-millions-of-families-including-their-own-constituents"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8968689944595098, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}