{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-16-senator-murray-calls-on-republicans-to-quit-hiding-from-their-constituents-and-prevent-health-care-costs-from-skyrocketing/", "REPUBLICAN SHUTDOWN DAY 16: Senator Murray Calls on Republicans to Quit Hiding from Their Constituents and Prevent Health Care Costs from Skyrocketing", "2025-10-16", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", "murray", "https://www.murray.senate.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "KFF: Most Republicans and MAGA Supporters Say Congress Should Extend the Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Set to Expire Next Year\n\n***WATCH: Senator Murray\u2019s full floor speech***\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor on the sixteenth day of President Trump and Republicans\u2019 shutdown.\n\nSenator Murray\u2019s remarks, as delivered, are below:\n\n\u201cThank you, M. President.\n\n\u201cWhile Republican leaders are continuing trying to ignore this health care crisis, and insisting on shutting down the government rather than even considering talking with us about how we prevent premiums from doubling across the country, I have been listening to folks back home\u2014who are painfully aware health care premiums are about to skyrocket, and who are deeply concerned about what it is going to mean for their families and communities.\n\n\u201cSo, last week, when the Republican Leader sent us home, yet again, instead of working with us to end this shut down and address the health care crisis, I made a visit to Sea Mar Community Health Centers\u2019 Oak Harbor Clinic. Why? To hear from doctors and health care providers about what is just beyond the horizon if Republicans insist on inaction.\n\n\u201cI heard about how health care cuts Republicans passed are going to devastate our hospitals, devastate our clinics, and health centers.\n\n\u201cAnd I heard about how the massive premium hikes that are being announced right now\u2014the ones Republicans are trying very hard to ignore\u2014are going to push millions of people off their health plans.\n\n\u201cOne person I spoke with serves on the board of an insurer on the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.\n\n\u201cHe warned me, that if we do not save the ACA tax credits, they are anticipating so many customers will be priced out that the number of individuals they cover through the marketplace will drop 35 to 50 percent.\n\n\u201cYou know, there is already a loud chorus of people speaking out concerned about this\u2014in my state, and all across the country.\n\n\u201cI have spoken with small businesses owners who are going to see their premiums double, even triple, and some quadruple, and who are having to rethink whether they try to keep their small business doors open, and maybe go without coverage, or alternatively, just pack it in and try to find a job with an employer-sponsored plan.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spoken with retirees who are not yet old enough for Medicare who have gotten notices that their monthly premiums are about to go through the roof. In some cases, we are talking about thousands of dollars a month.\n\n\u201cAnd here\u2019s the thing: not only do I know there are more stories like this across the country, I also know there are going to be many more stories pouring in very shortly.\n\n\u201cBecause the reality is, there are rate hikes in the mail right now going out to people who had no idea about the Republicans\u2019 health care crisis and that it was going to hit them in the end.\n\n\u201cRates are being set now. People are window shopping in many states and panicking from the sticker shock.\n\n\u201cIn Idaho, open enrollment is now underway. It has started.\n\n\u201cThat means, right now, families are seeing the cold hard numbers, and the sharp increase it will cost them to stay covered.\n\n\u201cAnd in two weeks, that same nightmare is coming to every state in the country.\n\n\u201cWho do Republicans think they are fooling when they try to just ignore this?\n\n\u201cWhat in the world are they talking about when they say deal with it \u2018later?\u2019\n\n\u201cThese price hikes are about to get locked in. There is no later. We need to act now.\n\nThere was an earlier though. Perhaps we should talk about that for a minute.\n\n\u201cBecause Democrats have been calling for action on this for months. And where were Republicans?\n\n\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t Republicans sit down with us to talk health care in September?\n\n\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t they talk health care in August?\n\n\u201cWhy couldn\u2019t they find a single minute to work with us on health care in July? Or June? Or even May?\n\n\u201cAfter all, they had plenty of time this summer to shovel tax breaks at billionaires, and put over $1 trillion in health care funding on the chopping block. They spent months on billionaires!\n\n\u201cBut they can\u2019t be bothered when it comes to health care. They can\u2019t be bothered to help our working families.\n\n\u201cThey would rather shut down the government than sit down and talk about preventing these premiums from doubling.\n\n\u201cBut Democrats are going to talk about health care, whether Republicans want to or not.\n\n\u201cHouse Republicans have been hiding from this issue for a month.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not kidding: they have literally been on vacation for nearly a month now!\n\n\u201cHiding from this problem won\u2019t make it go away.\n\n\u201cThose rate hikes are in the mail; they are going out to our constituents.\n\n\u201cWindow shopping is going live. Folks can go online in many states and see the exact cost of Republican inaction.\n\n\u201cAnd open enrollment is still marching ahead. It is underway in Idaho right now, and in a few weeks, it\u2019s going to be across the nation.\n\n\u201cIf you are a Republican who thinks that somehow families aren\u2019t going to notice their premium doubling, somehow they won\u2019t mind their health care costs jumping a couple hundred dollars a month\u2014or, in some cases, by the way, a couple thousand a month\u2014here\u2019s some advice: stop taking your marching orders from billionaires like President Trump, and start listening to those people back home.\n\n\u201cTalk to the farmers, actually, a quarter of them are covered on the exchanges. Talk to small business owners, like I have, and employees, many of whom are covered through the exchanges.\n\n\u201cBecause they are the ones who are going to feel the pain from this. And they know it, and they are begging Congress to act.\n\n\u201cAnd do you know what? Three-fourths of the people who rely on the ACA tax credits live in red states.\n\n\u201cAnd the ten states where folks who lose those tax credits will see the largest premium increases? They are all red states.\n\n\u201cSo, shutdown or not, Republicans can only ignore this issue if they ignore their own constituents.\n\n\u201cSo to Republican leaders, don\u2019t hide from your constituents, don\u2019t hide from the health care crisis you\u2019re causing, quit hiding from the negotiating table.\n\n\u201cThe clock is not just ticking\u2014the alarm is going off. We need to act now, before these premium hikes become unavoidable.\n\n\u201cDemocrats are the table. We have always been at the table. We are ready to work out a deal that reopens the government and addresses the health care crisis.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "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.murray.senate.gov/republican-shutdown-day-16-senator-murray-calls-on-republicans-to-quit-hiding-from-their-constituents-and-prevent-health-care-costs-from-skyrocketing/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8918358944356441, "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"}