{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/icymi-idaho-begins-open-enrollment-senator-murray-warns-red-states-of-exploding-health-care-costs-if-republicans-keep-refusing-to-act/", "ICYMI: Idaho Begins Open Enrollment, Senator Murray Warns Red States of Exploding Health Care Costs if Republicans Keep Refusing to Act", "2025-10-17", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "More than three-quarters of the people who rely on ACA tax credits for health insurance live in red states\n\nMurray takes case directly to Idahoans and Montanans as new signs indicate Republicans are feeling the heat over their refusal to take action to prevent people\u2019s costs from spiking\n\nMurray: \u201cIf Republicans don\u2019t want to level with their own constituents about what is at stake, I am happy to do it. Because Republicans may well be able to shut down the government, but they cannot shut down the debate, and they cannot shut out the voices of families who are facing the harsh reality of their inaction.\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 As open enrollment on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace began in Idaho this week\u2014with open enrollment beginning in the rest of the country on November 1\u2014Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has been warning how Republicans\u2019 refusal to save the ACA enhanced premium tax credits will cause premiums to explode, particularly in red states. She warned that the 10 states facing the largest hikes are red states and has now taken her case directly to Idahoans and Montanans in separate press calls.\n\n______________\n\nWATCH: Murray Lays Out Which States Will See Highest Premium Increases Due to Republican Inaction\n\n[WATCH: Morning Joe panel discusses which states will be most hurt by Republican inaction.]\n\n______________\n\nIdahoans Face Sticker Shock as Open Enrollment Began on Wednesday\n\nTV & RADIO\n\nKXLY (Northern Idaho & Spokane, WA)\n\nANCHOR: \u201cIn a press conference today, Washington state Senator Patty Murray argued ensuring these tax credits are extended indefinitely is the first step to make rising health insurance premiums attainable for Americans. Americans like Bob McMichael, a retired schoolteacher from a rural part of Idaho. He and his wife are senior citizens living on a fixed income. They don\u2019t qualify for Medicaid, but they\u2019ve been able to find an affordable health insurance plan using the Affordable Care Act exchange system. But last week, Bob received a letter about his insurance plan, which is set to increase by more than 250 dollars a month. Bob says taking these tax credits on and off the bargaining table is making it difficult to plan for the future. Bob McMichael relies on ACA tax credits. \u2018If they reinstate the ACA credits or if they are still on the table for us in 2026, it\u2019s going to be hard. But if they don\u2019t reinstate then, then we simply won\u2019t be able to afford any health care at all.\u2019 Today, a Republican stopgap funding bill failed to pass in the Senate once again. The vote was 54 to 45. The government shutdown is inching closer and closer to the open enrollment period, where people like bob can compare plans and make changes to their health coverage. Idaho\u2019s open enrollment is just days away on October 15th. In Washington, the date is November 1st.\u201d [10/9/25]\n\nKBOI (Boise, ID)\n\nANCHOR: \u201cIf those credits expire, health insurance premiums will skyrocket in 2026. A senator from Washington, Patty Murray, is holding a conference with Idahoans about them. \u2018And if those credits expire, a 55 year old earning about $63,000 a year in Idaho will see their annual premiums increase nearly $4,000. No one can afford that.\u2019 That\u2019s Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow. She urges Congress to make the credits permanent, saying it would cost a fraction of the billions given in tax cuts.\u201d [10/10/25]\n\nPRINT\n\nIdaho Capital Sun: Democratic Idaho legislator calls on Congress to extend health insurance tax credits\n\nWith open enrollment on Idaho\u2019s health insurance exchange starting next week, Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow called on Congress to extend health insurance tax credits and end the shutdown of the U.S. government.\n\nWintrow, D-Boise, participated in an online press conference Thursday with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, as the partial shutdown of the federal government was in its ninth day.\n\n\u201cI am overwhelmed with calls from people all over the state who are frustrated and afraid about the things that are happening in their health care,\u201d Wintrow said.\n\nOpen enrollment on the Your Health Idaho health insurance exchange, where Idahoans can apply for a tax credit and enroll in a health insurance plan for next year, opens Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 15.\n\nMurray warned that unless Congress extends the tax credits originally passed in 2021, thousands of Idahoans on the state\u2019s health exchange will see \u201ca huge spike in their health care costs.\u201d Without those credits, 25,000 Idahoans are likely to cancel their insurance policies \u2014 as average premiums are expected to double, Pat Kelly, executive director of Your Health Idaho, previously told the Idaho Capital Sun.\n\n\u201cBut Republicans don\u2019t want to talk about it. And they have refused to do anything about it. In fact, Republicans have chosen to shut down the government rather than work with Democrats on a solution to stop this from happening. So here\u2019s my feeling on this: if Republicans don\u2019t want to level with their own constituents about what is at stake, I am happy to do it,\u201d Murray said. [10/9/25]\n\nIdaho Statesman: \u2018People are going to die\u2019: Idahoans fear spike in insurance costs\n\nAt 59, Susan Wood, a longtime Boise, Idaho, resident, was too young to qualify for Medicare when she retired in July. So she signed up for a marketplace plan under the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nWith the help of federal subsidies, which get paid out to insurance companies, she has to cover only $72 of her monthly premium. Wood said she\u2019d be on the hook for her plan\u2019s full $700 monthly premium without the subsidies. Those payments would surpass what she spends on her mortgage or on food. [10/7/25]\n\nNBC News: Idaho kicks off Affordable Care Act open enrollment as premiums are set to rise nationwide:\n\nMany Idahoans will have to decide whether they\u2019ll be able to afford coverage once the enhanced subsidies that kept premiums lower for many middle-class families expire at the end of the year.\n\nBob McMichael, 63, and his wife, Leslie, 62, already know they won\u2019t.\n\nBoth are retired and make about $42,000 a year. They currently pay $51 a month for their ACA plan. Late last month, they got a notice that their monthly premium would increase to $2,232 next year without the subsidies.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re facing a stratospheric increase in health care and probably don\u2019t have any option to stay on health care as of January 2026,\u201d McMichael said. [10/15/25]\n\nSpokesman-Review: Murray puts spotlight on Idaho as shutdown fight over health care drags on\n\nWith the government shutdown in its ninth day and no sign of serious negotiations between the parties to end it, Democrats are counting on sticker shock putting pressure on Republicans when Americans start seeing rising health insurance costs during this fall\u2019s open enrollment period.\n\nThat period beings Oct. 15 in Idaho, earlier than every other state, a fact Sen. Patty Murray of Washington sought to highlight in a virtual news conference on Thursday with Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, a fellow Democrat.\n\n\u201cIf Republican leaders don\u2019t want to talk with Democrats about opening the government and stopping premiums from doubling, well, we\u2019re going to talk to the American people about what\u2019s at stake,\u201d Murray said. \u201cWe will lift up the voices of families who are worried their premiums will double.\u201d\n\nWintrow, speaking from the Idaho State Capitol, pointed blame at the Gem State\u2019s all-GOP congressional delegation: Reps. Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson and Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch. Simpson leads a subcommittee responsible for government funding, and Crapo chairs the Senate Finance Committee, but none of the four men have publicly engaged in talks to end the impasse.\n\n\u201cI am overwhelmed with calls from people all over the state who are frustrated and afraid about the things that are happening in their health care,\u201d she said. \u201cTheir stories are remarkably similar. They\u2019re worried, they\u2019re frustrated and they\u2019re asking, \u2018Why aren\u2019t the people we send to Washington helping us?\u2019 \u201d\n\n[\u2026]\n\n\u201cI think Republicans think that this is just going to go away,\u201d [Murray] said. \u201cBut I have to tell you, people are getting those letters in the mail \u2014 in Idaho starting in just a few days, in Washington state in a few weeks, every state across the country.\u201d [10/9/25]\n\nNOTUS: A Democratic Senator Is Taking Shutdown Health Care Messaging to Deep-Red Idaho\n\nSen. Patty Murray of Washington state, the upper chamber\u2019s top Democratic appropriator, will conduct a press call Thursday with local media in neighboring Idaho, according to her office. Murray, alongside Idaho state Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow and two Idaho retirees, is expected to argue that congressional Republicans are responsible for a potential rise in Idaho health care premiums. [\u2026] In a floor speech Tuesday, Murray said the 10 states where insurance premiums would spike the most if the subsidies expire were all ones that went for Trump in 2024 and have Republican senators. \u201cIf you\u2019re gonna not talk with us, then I beg my colleagues: At least talk to your constituents. See what this health care crisis looks for them,\u201d Murray said on the Senate floor. [10/8/25]\n\n______________\n\nMurray Warns of Skyrocketing Premiums in Montana\n\nTV & RADIO\n\nNonStop Local (Billings, Butte-Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula, MT) (KULR, KWYB, KFBB, KHBB, KTMF)\n\nANCHOR: \u201cBradley Warren shows us from The Pulse studios: the Democrats feel like they are fighting for the American people, and protecting our healthcare.\u201d\n\nCORRESPONDENT: \u201cWell, today, Senator Murray was joined by State Senator Cora Neumann to stress the importance of the ACA subsidies. Open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans started today in Idaho and gave us sort of a glimpse as to what the future of health care in the country could look like without the tax credits. Now, Senator Patty Murray says the Democrats are pushing for these because the average out of pocket premium is expected just in the state of Idaho to rise by $1,200 a year. And that\u2019s a 75% increase, according to the state health officials that we reached out today. Senator Neumann also tells us without the subsidies, the impact on her rural district in the state of Montana, which stretches from Bozeman all the way down to West Yellowstone, could be significant.\u201d\n\nSENATOR CORA NEUMANN: \u201cI think we\u2019re actually over 70,000 Montanans that have enrolled in the ACA marketplace in 2025. In 2020, it was only 42,000. So, if that gives you a sense of how many people have taken advantage of this and how high the rates are across the state, just as an example of how, how critical and crucial it has come to, has become within our health care system.\u201d\n\nCORRESPONDENT: \u201cSo she said, there are some people who could make the decision to forgo insurance because of the price of it, which could overwhelm our rural health care system. And of course, the emergency rooms, because that\u2019s where people would be going if they don\u2019t have insurance. I spoke to the senior senator, the Democratic Senator from the state of Washington who hosted this press conference today with leaders from the state of Montana, Patty Murray. And she says that she wants to see these health care subsidies get across the finish line. I asked her about remarks made from the Montana Republican delegation that has spoken with me, saying that Democrats need to reopen the government and negotiate later. She said that\u2019s not going to work for her. \u201cWe repeatedly asked them to extend these tax credits, for the ACA, and they refused to do so. This is not a new request. This is a legislative request and it needs to be done now.\u201d [10/15/25]\n\nKGEZ (Missoula, MT)\n\nHOST: \u201cWashington state Senator Patty Murray is doing a virtual news conference tomorrow afternoon with Bozeman State Senter Cora Neumann and Montana Nurses Association CEO Vicki Byrd. Now, they\u2019re going to be talking about the impending rise in health care costs for Montanans. Senator Murray is the Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee. The main point of contention of this current government shutdown, now on its sixteenth day, is the loss of the Affordable Care Act tax credits which underwrite a majority of health care premiums for those Montanans. Senator Murray gives us this as an example: Montanans pay an average monthly premium of a hundred and forty-five dollars with tax credits; without them, it rises to six hundred thirty-five dollars. She says a married couple in Helena could see their premiums rise by nearly twenty thousand dollars annually. Senator Murray reminds us that over sixty seven thousand Montanans rely on the Affordable Care Act credits in order to afford their health care insurance. Democrats in Congress say the government shutdown would end immediately if this issue was resolved.\u201d [10/15/25]\n\nPRINT\n\nDaily Montanan: Washington senator hosts forum with Montanans on health subsidies, shutdown\n\nMontanans can\u2019t afford the exploding costs of health insurance coming their way if Republicans in the U.S. Senate won\u2019t work with Democrats to protect Affordable Care Act tax credits \u2014 that was the message Wednesday from a video call hosted by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.\n\nMurray said she held the call because families in red states such as Montana are being affected, Republicans in the U.S. Senate are dodging the issue, and Republican lawmakers need to negotiate.\n\n[\u2026]\n\n[State Senator Cora Neumann] said Montana\u2019s own Republican state auditor James Brown signed onto a letter with other auditors across the country calling on Congress to continue the enhanced tax credits that started during the pandemic.\n\n\u201cAuditors know intimately how dangerous these cuts are,\u201d Neumann said.\n\nBut Neumann said the federal delegation is not listening to Montanans.\n\nShe also said the delegation \u201chas phenomenal health care coverage,\u201d and their intransigence on the matter for others confused her.\n\n\u201cFor them to sit pretty in Washington and accept some of the best health care coverage in the country while Montanans lose their coverage just reminds me of how out of touch they are with Montana,\u201d Neumann said.[10/15/25]\n\nBillings Gazette: Medicare open enrollment kicks off in Montana \u2014 and plans are more expensive than ever\n\n[\u2026]\n\nMost Montanans on the ACA exchange receive monthly subsidies that make premiums more affordable. A pandemic-era federal policy expanded those subsidies, giving many consumers a financial buffer during an economically uncertain time.\n\nThose ACA enhanced premium tax credits will lapse at the end of the year without congressional action, and are at the center of the federal government shutdown fight. The impasse is largely due to Democrats\u2019 insistence on renewing the subsidies and the Republicans\u2019 refusal to do so as a condition of reopening.\n\nThe average monthly subsidy for a Montana resident is currently $545. Jacobs said he works with some families who currently pay $350 a month with the ACA tax credit but could pay around $2,200 a month without it.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nDemocrats counter that people are feeling financial strain and could choose to go without insurance rather than pay a high price, which will ultimately cost the system more down the line when they seek emergency room care.\n\n\u201cWe are talking about families with kids, we\u2019re talking about seniors, retirees who aren\u2019t old enough for Medicare but desperately need healthcare coverage, countless farmers, ranchers, small business owners and freelancers,\u201d said U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, in a press call earlier this week.\n\nMurray, one of the lone Senate Democrats in the otherwise deep red geographic pocket, hosted a press conference on Wednesday with a handful of Montanans. Murray claimed she\u2019s heard from Montana residents with concerns about the potential surge in health costs.\n\nMontana Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, also participated in the event. She expressed concern that Montana\u2019s GOP lawmakers in D.C. were \u201cout of touch\u201d with the impact that the price increases could have on the average family.\n\nWith less than three weeks until the marketplace opens for business and no clear path forward in sight, many people are left to wonder what this all means for them. [10/17/25]\n\nNonStop Local, Montana Right Now: Senator Murray and Montana leaders urge action to save healthcare tax credits\n\nThis is a situation where Congress needs to act now with legislation to extend the tax credits,\u201d Murray said. [\u2026] \u201cI will go back to this summer when Republicans passed their \u2018Big Beautiful Bill.\u2019 One of the tax extenders in that was for billionaires which they moved heaven and earth to do within a few short weeks. We repeatedly asked them to extend these tax credits for the ACA and they refused to do so. This is not a new request. This is a legislative request. And it needs to be done now. [10/16/25]\n\nSEMAFOR: Top Senate Democrat takes health care fight to red states\n\nAs the government shutdown enters its second week, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is taking her party\u2019s fight for enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies to the neighboring red state of Idaho. \u201cIf the Republican lawmakers \u2026 are not going to level with their constituents about what is at stake in this fight, I will,\u201d Murray, who is planning a virtual press conference Thursday with Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow and Idahoans who use the subsidies, told Semafor. She added that an estimated 100,000 Idahoans will see premiums go up by an average of almost $1,000 a year when the state\u2019s open enrollment period \u2014 the earliest in the country \u2014 begins next week. 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