{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-highlights-health-care-increases-impact-on-georgia-small-businesses-in-aging-committee-exchange/", "Warnock Highlights Health Care Increases, Impact on Georgia Small Businesses in Aging Committee Exchange", "2025-10-24", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "GA", "Raphael G. Warnock", "W000790", "www.warnock.senate.gov", "warnock", "https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "In Wednesday\u2019s Senate Aging Committee hearing, Senator Reverend Warnock questioned businessman Mark Cuban on the impact higher premium costs will have on small businesses across the country\n\nGeorgians who get their health plans on GeorgiaAccess.gov could see health care premiums more than double for 2026 due to cuts allowed in Washington Republicans\u2019 One Big Beautiful Bill\n\nSenator Warnock has made protecting health care for the 1.2 million Georgians at risk of losing coverage because of the OBBB his highest priority during budget negotiations to reopen the government\n\nIn Georgia, over 99% \u2013 or 1.4 million businesses \u2013 are considered \u201csmall\u201d\n\nSenator Reverend Warnock: \u201cThis gut punch for small businesses impacts the overall economy because small businesses are such a big part of our economy\u201d\n\nWatch Senator Reverend Warnock at Wednesday\u2019s Aging Committee hearing HERE\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) questioned businessman Mark Cuban during a Senate Aging Committee hearing on the impact higher premium costs will have on small businesses across the country. Thanks to Washington Republicans\u2019 One Big Beautiful Bill, Georgians\u2019health care premiums have more than doubled for 2026. These increases could devastate Georgia\u2019s small business community, forcing business owners to spend more on their health costs, leaving less capital for investment and growth.\n\n\u201cThis [left] is the cost of the premium for a senior in 2025,\u201d said Senator Warnock gesturing toward the poster behind him. \u201cThis person is 62 years old, a small business owner in Georgia, taking home just $65,000 in 2025. The other side [right] shows the cheapest option for that same Georgian. So, $228.17 a month. Now with the expiration of these tax premiums, $1,142.71. That\u2019s quite a jump. How would this monthly jump affect that Georgian\u2019s ability to grow her small business or even just make ends meet?\u201d\n\nDue to health care cuts allowed in President Trump and Washington Republicans\u2019 One Big Beautiful Billsigned into law in July, ACA health insurance premium tax credits will expire at the end of the year unless extended by Congress. Georgia is one of the states that will be most harmed by these cuts, with more than 1.2 million Georgians at risk of losing coverage. Expiring ACA credits will increase insurance premiums for ACA customers across the country, and millions are expected to drop their ACA insurance because of higher premiums. Small business owners and entrepreneurs will feel these impacts with higher premiums cutting into profit margins in an already tight economy.\n\nAccording to George Washington University, Georgia is projected to lose more than 33,000 jobs in 2026 if Congress does not extend health care premium tax credits for Georgians who purchase their insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The economic impact of national health care losses is projected to be roughly $32 billion.\n\nWatch the Senator\u2019s full remarks HERE. See excerpts of the exchange below:\n\nSenator Warnock: \u201cThis [left] is the cost of the premium for a senior in 2025. This person is 62 years old, small business owner in Georgia, taking home just $65,000 in 2025. The other side [right] shows the cheapest option for that same Georgian. So, $228.17 a month. Now with the expiration of these tax premiums, $1,142.71. That\u2019s quite a jump. How would this monthly jump affect that Georgian\u2019s ability to grow her small business or even just make ends meet?\u201d\n\nMark Cuban: \u201cIt makes her make a lot of hard choices. Either to try to find the money to pay for the premiums or to go without insurance. I think the greatest challenge has been in all of this is that small business owners \u2013 Americans that are on the ACA \u2013 haven\u2019t had enough time to plan for it [expiring health care credits]. It\u2019s one thing to know that your premiums are going up, it\u2019s another thing not to know how much and how soon. So now, we\u2019re just \u2013 in Texas, people are just now starting to see the open enrollment and more will see in a couple of weeks \u2013 and as a small business looking to the ACA for their employees, it\u2019s going to be terrifying for them.\u201d\n\nSenator Warnock: \u201cAnd if they forgo insurance, is it fair to say that that will drive up premiums for everybody?\u201d\n\nCuban: \u201cYeah, of course. Because healthy people are going to be most likely not to take insurance.\u201d\n\nSenator Warnock: \u201cThis gut punch for small businesses impacts the overall economy because small businesses are such a big part of our economy.\u201d\n\nCuban: \u201cWell, of course. If you take \u2013 there are 33 million companies in this country \u2013 30 million of them are \u201csolo-preneurs\u201d or one person entrepreneur companies and if you\u2019re taking $800 give or take a month out of their pocketbooks, they can\u2019t invest it in inventory, etc, etc. So, it makes it much more difficult to run your company.\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.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-highlights-health-care-increases-impact-on-georgia-small-businesses-in-aging-committee-exchange/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4360281638801098, "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"}